


The Claiming

by madlaw



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Canon through S05E08, Canon-Typical Violence, Crisis On Infinite Earths Rewrite, F/F, Lesbian Sex, NSFW, Power Dynamics, Reconciliation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-09
Updated: 2020-03-30
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:41:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22185775
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madlaw/pseuds/madlaw
Summary: Kara sits on her couch staring at the picture of her and Lena-the love shining brightly from their faces, the remembered tenderness of Lena's hug still vivid.  She'd been crying on and off for a while-but slowly the tears tapered off and gradually a steely determination takes their place.Ever since she'd landed on earth she'd been reacting, adapting, conforming.  Contorting her core beliefs and values to accommodate those around her.  She'd forgotten who she was born to be and who'd she'd been forced to become upon the death of Krypton-the last scion of the House of El.Consequently, she'd let inferior minds guide her and lesser hearts influence her decisions.  Her incessant need to be loved by them cost her the love of the only one of them truly worthy.  But it wasn't too late-not until one of them lay dead.  The time had come to rise up and accept the mantle-to lead, instead of follow-to claim and cease submitting.She'd take what's hers by eternal right and save them all in the process.
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor, Supercorp - Relationship
Comments: 181
Kudos: 886





	1. Turning Tables

**Author's Note:**

> So I fought watching season 5 for as long as possible because I knew this would happen-it'd piss me off and a story would rise unbidden into my consciousness until I spewed it out onto the page. It's a little darker than normal for me, but hey, blame the show writers for inspiring it. (If keeping a Superhero identity a secret can inspire world domination, why not a little lust and darkness from the constant degradation of our beloved SuperCorp?)
> 
> It's canon through S05E08, although I do add in a significant backstory to the Rhea/Lena story line from season 2. It picks up later the same night after J'onn is visited by The Monitor.
> 
> As always I welcome your comments and constructive criticism. Feed the author!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You have some nerve coming into my home and trying to turn your treachery against me!” Lena rages as she tries to pull away and put more distance between them. But Kara’s grip on the lasso is too strong to break and she doesn’t get far.
> 
> “Treachery? That’s an interesting choice of words,” Kara responds calmly. “In a way I trusted you more both as Kara Danvers and Supergirl than you ever did me,” Kara explains with a small hint of irony.

“I was sitting in my apartment gazing at the same picture,” Kara starts to speak as she rises from bent knees after landing hard on Lena’s balcony.

The startled Luthor looks up and clutches the half-filled tumbler in her hand so hard, her knuckles turn white from the strain and a few drops of scotch spill over the side before she rights it. She thinks about wiping the still drying tears from her face, but decides she won’t give her ex-friend the satisfaction of thinking she cares enough to hide.

She steps through the open door onto the balcony subconsciously drawn to Kara despite everything that’s passed between them. The star-sprinkled night sky surrounds them and the calm belies the world threatening battle fought earlier in the day on multiple fronts.

“Then I realized I had to make a decision,” Kara continues, not waiting for any type of response from the woman she still considers her best friend.

They stare at each other—Kara in her new suit and Lena in jeans and a tailored button-down hinting at the young woman normally hidden beneath power suits.

“So, I outsmarted you and your federal cronies and you’ve come to take the law into your own hands Supergirl,” Lena snorts derisively as she breaks the silence. 

Kara studies her for a moment longer, then smirks. 

“Superheroes don’t have cronies, Lena. We have allies—and you’re hardly one to talk about playing fast and loose with the law.

But you’re right in that I did have to decide, among other things, what to do about you, Lena. Because I know you—we stopped you this time, but you’re clever and cunning and you’ll bide your time until the next opportunity presents itself and before you know it, you’ll have slid down the same primrose path to madness as Lex. I will not let us repeat the _boys_ ’ mistakes. We will _not_ be nemeses,” she states with finality. 

“Frankly, there’s something even more dangerous than Leviathan coming for earth and we can’t be at odds when it comes knocking on the proverbial door. So, I can’t give you space and time while I slowly try to coax you back to my side.”

There’s something different about the way Kara’s speaking to Lena. Ever since the confrontation at the fortress, Kara’s approached her with teary conciliation, but there’s no evidence of it now. There’s a hard glint in her eyes and steel in her voice. An implicit command beneath every word.

“Alex thinks that you’ve turned a corner—that you’ve been leading your own double life and that you’re beyond redemption,” Kara says matter-of-factly. As she’s speaking, she unslings a mailbag from around her neck and pulls out a tightly woven golden lariat—it gleams dully in the muted light of Lena’s apartment.

Despite herself, Lena studies it in fascination, momentarily distracted. She’s never seen it before but she’s read descriptions of it in Lex’s journals. Kara holds it in one hand and wraps one end around her own wrist and before Lena realizes what’s happening, the other end is tied firmly to one of hers.

“As I’m sure you’ve guessed, this is the Lasso of Truth. I borrowed it from a friend,” Kara states the obvious with a chuckle. “The god Hephaestus forged it from the Golden Girdle of Gaea that was once worn by Antiope, sister of the future Queen Hippolyta. It’s completely unbreakable, immutable, and indestructible.”

“So, you’re going to interrogate me?” Lena asks defiantly—no longer mesmerized.

“Not exactly. But too many lies stand between us, I thought it’d be helpful if we could both trust whatever we say to each other here tonight.”

“I’m not the liar in this relationship,” Lena bites out and it’s obvious she believes it.

“Oh?” Kara mocks. “You’re not the woman who said I’d always be her best friend and that I was forgiven? The same woman who subsequently trapped me in kryptonite gas and pointed kryptonite fueled canons at me?”

“ _After_ I found out you betrayed me,” Lena grits out. Her glare is impressive and, in another place and time, it might’ve given Kara pause. But tonight’s not that night.

“But I digress,” Kara continues, ignoring her comment. “Let me start by introducing myself. My name is Kara Zor-El, last scion of the House of El,” she says in a regal tone Lena’s never heard her use before and, in fact, wouldn’t have thought the humble blonde capable of mastering.

“Oh, I know exactly who you are,” Lena cuts her off spitefully, but Kara doesn’t let her continue.

“In point of fact—you don’t know me. No one does. I am not Kara Danvers _or_ Supergirl. I am also not simply an amalgamation of those two personas. I am bred of a millennium of deterministic social and genetic engineering. On Krypton I would’ve been a scientist, but also a leader—a member of the elite ruling counsel.”

“I guess Lex’s tirades weren’t just the ravings of a paranoid lunatic—you really do think you’re superior to us,” Lena sneers.

“Depends on how you define superiority,” Kara responds, nonplussed, “but I can assure you, I do not think myself superior to _you_ , Lena.”

“What do you hope to accomplish?” Lena asks exasperatedly as she gestures between the two of them and the lasso binding them together.

“Truth,” Kara answers simply.

“It’s a little late for you to care about the truth, Ms. Zor-El,” Lena retorts sharply.

“You know, Lena, I’ve been conciliatory because I know I hurt you. I kept my identity as Supergirl from you and I lied in various ways to protect that secret once I’d decided to keep it. You didn’t deserve to be treated so carelessly, like one of the untrustworthy masses. But I’m done ignoring _your_ secrets.”

“You have some nerve coming into my home and trying to turn your treachery against me!” Lena rages as she tries to pull away and put more distance between them. But Kara’s grip on the lasso is too strong to break and she doesn’t get far.

“Treachery? That’s an interesting choice of words,” Kara responds calmly. “In a way I trusted you more both as Kara Danvers and Supergirl than you ever did _me_ ,” Kara explains with a small hint of irony.

“Let’s recap your secrets—Medusa, Jack, Rhea, Sam, kryptonite, the harun-el, Lex—and those are just the highlights from _before_ you knew I was Supergirl. Yet, I never judged you. I believed in you and I never doubted your intentions. When you came clean about those secrets, I didn’t punish you for them. I accepted you made the best decisions possible under the circumstances and I _trusted_ you never meant to hurt me or anyone else. I never abandoned you.”

“Exactly. I owned up to my mistakes—I didn’t wait until I was exposed and then pretend remorse!” Lena shouts angrily. “Also, I never lied about Jack or Rhea—you were the one too busy to talk to me when I called to ask you to vet Rhea,” Lena accuses.

Kara continues to speak evenly and rationally. It’s like the angrier Lena gets, the calmer Kara becomes. “You looked me in the eye and promised you wouldn’t go to Jack after I told you about the nanites and yet that’s exactly what you did. Perhaps, if you hadn’t forced a confrontation, we’d have been able to take him into custody peacefully and he’d still be alive.”

A heartbreaking sob tears from Lena’s throat involuntarily and any other day it’d break Kara’s heart, but she’s on a mission and it’s not accomplished yet.

“The day you called about Rhea—and let me remind you I had no idea what you were calling about—Alex was kidnapped. Someone wanted to blackmail Supergirl to break out a prisoner—someone from our childhood who figured out my identity. She was trapped in a tank slowly filling with water and time was running out. We couldn’t find her. Yet, when I saw your name on the caller ID, I answered—in the midst of one of the worst days of my life. I ignored everything and everyone else that day. But not you—because I needed to be sure you were okay. When we spoke later that evening, if you’d told me about Rhea, we might’ve avoided a planetary invasion, countless lost lives, and the exile of my lover. But _not once_ did I hold any of it against you. Yes, I shut down and pushed everyone away—but it wasn’t about _you_.”

“Isn’t that what you’re doing now,” Lena asks sharply. “Blaming me? For Jack’s death, the invasion, Mon-El…”

“No. I’m simply pointing out that sometimes your decisions have unintended consequences, but I’ve never reacted by poisoning you or trying to enslave the human race to remake them in my image _for their own good_ ,” she says facetiously. 

“When I realized I’d kept my secret for too long I feared telling you. I feared it because I imagined I’d lose you—I thought you’d shut me out of your life. I never envisioned the lengths you’d go to just to hurt me. Selling CatCo? Sure, if I’d stopped to think about the specifics, I could’ve predicted you’d disassociate yourself from my life in every way possible. Stop helping the DEO or cut off _our_ friends—certainly in the realm of possibility. But everything you’ve done over the last few weeks? _All because I didn’t trust you with my superhero identity?_ ” Kara finally lets some incredulity bleed into her tone.

“What can I say—I _am_ a Luthor,” Lena ripostes defensively as she gulps the remaining scotch in her glass. “Overachieving is in the blood.”

“Oh no, Lena. Tonight, you don’t get to brush me off with flippant remarks. You have to see the blatant lack of proportionality of your response to my hurting you—what I want to know is _why?_ ”

“You’re conveniently glossing over trying to turn my personal relationships against me by getting James to search my vault behind my back,” Lena reminds her pointedly.

“Absolutely not. I take full responsibility for my actions. I made a mistake out of fear. I handled the entire kryptonite incident poorly. But that doesn’t answer my question. Lillian, Lex, Rhea, Andrea, Eve—they all deliberately and with malice aforethought betrayed you. Yet you never planned world domination in retaliation,” Kara probes like a surgeon with a scalpel.

“Maybe you’re just the straw that broke the camel’s back. Not everything’s about _you_ —Ms. Zor-El,” Lena snaps.

“Or maybe you care more about me than all of them combined,” Kara challenges.

“You’re insane!” Lena shouts as she throws the empty tumbler at Kara. It bounces off ineffectually and shatters on the concrete floor impotently, which seems to infuriate Lena even more.

“I want you out of my home and out of my life,” Lena insists indignantly.

Kara tugs on the lasso for the first time as she asks her next question. “Do you really want to end our relationship?”

Lena’s mouth tightens to a thin line as she struggles _not_ to answer. “No, damn you, no!” She finally cries.

“What do you want from me Lena?” Kara asks genuinely, although there’s a hint of conceit, as if she expects she knows the answer.

“I want you to love me!” she cries out bitterly. “Love me so deeply the thought alone of keeping a secret from me tears you apart,” she says desperately, ashamed but unable to hide from the power of the lasso.

“I already do, Lena,” Kara whispers as she gathers Lena into her arms and cradles her against her chest. Lena sinks into the embrace although she doesn’t return it—she rests her head against Kara’s chest, her hand covering the El family crest, and breathes raggedly until she regains some semblance of control. 

“You have no idea how heavily keeping secrets from you weighed on me the last three years,” Kara speaks softly, as if raising her voice would disturb the revelation. “I didn’t even realize it until everything lay bare between us at the fortress—because even though I pushed it aside, I knew at the Pulitzer party things weren’t right between us. It niggled at me the last few weeks even as I frantically tried to _fix_ us,” she admits, remembering her anxiety, flying across the world gathering Lena’s favorite treats, all the while knowing it was like applying a band aid to a gushing wound.

“Let’s go inside,” Kara suggests after a few minutes. Lena doesn’t reply, but steps through the open doorway, both physical and metaphorical, the rope still binding their wrists together.


	2. Truths Laid Bare

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "But isn’t it exhausting Lena—being in control all the time?” Kara taunts. “Is that why you gave it up for Rhea so easily? The first time you spread your legs for her, was it shame you felt or _relief _?” She goads with a cruel smirk.__
> 
> The sound of the resounding slap and Lena’s grunt of pain echo loudly in the suddenly still room. There’s no imprint of Lena’s hand on Kara’s cheek, but the pain now throbbing through Lena’s wrist confirms she did, in fact, just strike the strongest being on the planet. She’s lucky Kara shifted minutely at the last second or she’d probably have broken bones to contend with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to everyone for reading and for your comments! 
> 
> The last chapter will post as soon as possible after Part 5 of the Crisis Crossover airs.

They sit next to each other on the pristine white leather couch and Lena raises their joined hands before letting them flop down inelegantly between them, “I think we can take this off now.” 

It’s a statement that sounds like a question and Kara shakes her head no. “Not yet.”

“Kara, I’m tired—” she starts.

“I know. But putting things off never works for us and there’s a lot more I need to say and time is short.”

Lena shrugs resignedly.

“I’ve been busy the last couple of hours—with a little help from an interdimensional extrapolator,” Kara starts.

Kara recognizes the look in Lena’s eyes—the ardent curiosity about anything scientific. 

“I’ll explain about that later,” Kara interjects before Lena can voice her questions. “But to my point—I know about Hope.”

Lena’s eyes dart to Kara’s and for the first time ever, she looks at Kara with real fear—whether it’s of Kara’s judgment or what she might do remains unclear—but it’s a look Kara never wants to inspire in Lena. 

“We’ve freed Eve—for lack of a better word,” Kara explains. As a sharp look of betrayal once again graces Lena’s face, Kara clarifies. “Not released her from custody—but freed her from Hope’s influence. Once we did, she told us everything.”

“What do you intend to do?” Lena asks resentfully.

“With Eve?” Kara deliberately misinterprets. “She’ll be put on trial for shooting James and conspiring with Lex.”

“I don’t care about Eve!” Lena raises her voice and Kara quirks her lips.

“Oh, you mean, what will I do now that we have evidence of your crimes? Kidnapping, false imprisonment, assault, domestic terrorism—I’m not even sure there’s a proper crime on the books for what you did to Eve—similar to what Beth did to Jack I’d say—minus the killing part of course,” Kara comments, brutally concise in her characterization.

Lena flees behind a stoic façade for the first time realizing if she’s called to answer for her actions—there’s no one to rescue her. No one who’ll defend her—because she’d done it all to hurt the only person who’d be willing to forgive her.

She’s shocked numb by Kara’s next words however. “Nothing. You’ve just used your _one_ get out of jail free card. I spoke with Malefic and Eve, after her mind was properly under her own control again, and neither one will raise a finger in accusation.”

Lena’s not sure what she feels. Relief, of course—she knows even her money and influence wouldn’t get her out of this mess unscathed. The scandal alone would cost her the company and any hopes she’d ever had of being seen as something other than evil—of reinventing the Luthor name as a banner of good. But a small amount of her pride chafes at having failed. A small part of her still insists humanity would be better off under non nocere. 

Kara’s next words startle her out of her darkening thoughts.

“Hope’s amazing, Lena,” she says with awe. “I mean, but for the fatal flaw in your logic, she’s truly a gift to humanity.”

“Fatal flaw?” Lena asks sullenly.

“She offered to help you kill me, Lena. I’d venture to say you must have overlooked something. But aside from that, Lena, depriving humanity of their free will, even to make them better, is still slavery. The shackles may not be physical, but they’re still chains. 

Freeing people from ego and ambition? Any quality taken to extreme is harmful—even empathy or compassion. But what separates humans from other animals is our drive to understand one another and our ability to imagine different possible futures.

Ambition drives people to advance and accomplish their goals. It reflects healthy self-esteem and higher power of abstraction and visualization. A healthy ego gives you the state of mind to attempt more bold, daring and adventurous things and gives greater confidence that you can achieve them. Otherwise we’d still be australopithecines—albeit peaceful ones.

You’re so blinded by your pain and anger—you’re not thinking clearly. You’re being driven by the exact negative emotions you sought to eradicate. Who would you be without ambition Lena? Without the ego to believe you could improve humanity?”

“I suppose you’re going to tell me?” Lena asks caustically.

“No,” Kara answers in the maddeningly calm way she’s been speaking since she arrived. “A world where Lena Luthor has no ego or ambition isn’t one I care to contemplate. But you will need to redirect your energies,” Kara adds with a knowing smile.

Lena wants to say she’ll never trust Kara again, never work by Supergirl’s side. But the lasso won’t let her utter such transparent falsehoods, because deep in her soul, a life by Kara’s side is her most furtive yearning. In one way or another it’s been that way since they met. So, she says nothing.

Kara nods her head once as if they’ve reached some secret agreement and Lena wants nothing more than to wipe the teasingly smug look from her face, but Kara distracts her.

“Brainy rewrote some of Hope’s source code. She’ll still be helping humanity—but reprogramming humans is no longer an option,” Kara says firmly. “She did however, provide me with a wealth of information that helped me make certain decisions. 

I know about Andrea and the medallion of Arcata. She will be arrested soon and her assets seized under the Patriot Act. Cat Grant will be returning as Editor in Chief of CatCo effective immediately and once the bureaucratic hurdles have been jumped, most likely repurchasing her company from the government.”

“Why would she do that?” Lena asked, puzzled.

“Because I asked,” Kara replies without explanation.

“She’ll drop whatever she’s working on and rearrange her life to return to National City and retake the helm at CatCo, just because you asked?” Lena asks incredulously, not liking the implications and hating herself for the bolt of jealousy setting her veins on fire.

“Yes. After everything that’s happened over the last year and some things I’ve learned just tonight, it’s clear to me I need an independent team working with me to defend not just National City, but earth. You, Cat, and Brainy will serve as my inner circle.”

“Excuse me?” Lena rebuts indignantly with a raised eyebrow.

“You, my love,” Kara says, as if she’s always called Lena thus, “need to be challenged and I need your genius devising ways to save earth, not enslave humans or hurt _me_.”

The casual way Kara uses the term of endearment makes Lena’s heart ache with longing, but she ignores it.

“I need Cat’s media savvy,” Kara continues, “to ensure Supergirl doesn’t end up in the middle of another public relations nightmare and to ensure the stories that need to be told aren’t lost to click-bait tabloid journalism. It didn’t take much convincing—she was appalled Andrea tried to turn CatCo into an extension of Obsidian’s advertising department. 

As for Brainy, his 12th level intellect, despite his quirky idiosyncrasies, will prove indispensable in the battles to come.”

“That’s the second time you’ve alluded to some sort of crisis,” Lena interrupts. “What aren’t you telling me?”

“A lot,” Kara admits easily. “But I’m trying. I still only have bits and pieces of the puzzle, but the entire multiverse is about to come under attack. Last year on Earth 1, I met a cosmic entity known as The Monitor. His name’s Mar Novu and he’s been around since the dawn of time. He’s been searching the multiverse, testing its heroes, seeking ones he believes will be strong enough to defeat what’s coming. He claims the next threat we face is the annihilation of all reality. 

Tonight, he contacted J’onn and told him the crisis is imminent. Evidently he’s the one who released Malefic from the phantom zone—he was J’onn’s test.”

Before Lena can ask all the questions Kara sees brewing in her mind, she shushes her with a finger to her lips. “I don’t know much more about the crisis yet—but I know I’ll need you.”

“What about the others—James, Alex, J’onn, Nia?” Lena asks.

“James will do well to stay in Calvintown,” Kara says with more annoyance than she’s exhibited all night. “Alex will lead the DEO and the others will help wherever they’re needed,” Kara adds.

“Did you and James have a fight?” Lena asks, not sure where Kara’s hostility stems from.

“No. But one of the things I decided tonight is that I’m done with him. All he’s ever been in a fight is a hindrance. He lacks the moral fortitude to make the tough choices, never satisfied to help where he could actually be of some use, instead seeking glory through his amateur heroics. I won’t have time or energy to babysit his fragile ego.”

Lena’s not sure if it’s the effect of the lasso or the stress of the impending crisis, but she’s never heard Kara sound as harsh. But it doesn’t make her wrong, Lena realizes.

“James admires you,” she tries. “While we were dating—” she continues, but Kara scoffs and Lena furrows her eyebrows at the interruption. “Something you’d like to say?” Lena digs.

“He dated you mostly because you had what I denied him,” Kara can’t help but answer honestly. She’s not immune to the effects of the lasso either.

“Oh, and what’s that?” Lena asks testily.

“I confided in you, trusted you, believed in you, in ways I’ve never done with him. He couldn’t understand why I’d have that kind of faith in a Luthor and not in him as Guardian. He saw you as a way of getting closer to Kara Danvers at a time when he was becoming increasingly irrelevant to me personally.”

“So, it couldn’t have anything to do with who _I_ am?” Lena scoffs, but it’s laced with hurt Kara can easily see and hear.

“It certainly should’ve, but I don’t believe it did or he wouldn’t have discarded you so easily. Besides, admit it, you saw him as your ticket to Supergirl’s inner sanctum.”

“He didn’t discard me—I broke up with him!” Lena offers hotly. “You’re unbelievable! Everything’s not about you!”

“He barely put up a fight,” she scoffs, “though you’re right. Everything’s not about me. But you and him—that _was_ all about me. Tell me I’m wrong,” Kara challenges.

Lena looks away defiantly, but doesn’t contradict Kara’s assessment.

“He wasn’t a suitable partner for you Lena, regardless of his reasons for dating you,” Kara adds, inadvertently rubbing salt in the wound. “He could never give you what you need.”

“What would you know about what I need?” Lena asks. “You wounded me more than he ever could,” Lena reminds her bitterly.

“Tell me Lena—if you believe so much in being honest with people you love then why’d you lie to him? You promised you’d stay out of his problems with the DA and yet you went behind his back and negotiated a deal with them anyway,” Kara reminds her, ignoring Lena’s question for the moment.

“I did it to keep him out of prison—to keep him safe,” she trails off.

“Sounds an awful lot like keeping my secret identity from you for your protection, doesn’t it?” Kara asks knowingly. “Because although eventually I was motivated by a fear of losing you, initially, and for a long time, I kept it from you to keep you, and to a lesser extent other people I care about—safe.”

“So, you came here tonight to call me a hypocrite?” Lena asks resentfully.

“No Lena. I came here tonight to convince you we belong together—we make each other better, stronger. Working together we _can_ make humanity _transcend_. But first we’ll need to ensure there’s something left to improve.”

“I’ve heard this spiel before and I’m not buying,” Lena responds flippantly. 

Kara takes a breath and exhales slowly. “I know you have—but when I tell you I believe in you, that you are a brilliant, kind-hearted, beautiful soul—I actually _mean_ it. Unlike Rhea,” Kara finally says.

Lena shakes her head, slowly and then faster. “No,” she whispers.

“Did you really think Rhea wouldn’t gloat Lena? Wouldn’t delight in telling me what a _good girl_ my best friend was for her? How eager to _please_ , to get _down on your knees for her_?” Kara says, outrage bleeding into every word.

Lena’s tears trickle down her face, but Kara refuses to stop, because she needs to reach Lena—tear down the walls between them once and for all. 

“You _knew_ something was off about her—but _she_ knew what buttons to push. How to manipulate your insecurities, how to offer validation, then implicitly threaten to withhold it with her next breath.”

Lena’s tears stream down her face as her deepest shame lies exposed before the one person she’d die before telling.

“I know all about the clawing, incessant need to be loved Lena—I understand it. Ever since I landed on this planet I’ve been reacting, adapting, conforming. Contorting my core beliefs and values to accommodate those around me. I let inferior minds guide me and lesser hearts influence my decisions. But I am done being Kara Danvers and Supergirl. Tonight, I set them aside. I am Kara Zor-El, last scion of the House of El. 

You think you’ve known darkness, Lena, but can you imagine a burning world forever stuck inside you? Not just any world—but your home—everything you ever loved ripped away and exploding before your impotent eyes in minutes? Made exponentially worse by discovering bit by bit, over time, how its destruction was brought about by the very people whose loss you mourned deep in your bones.”

Lena’s anger and confusion battle with her deep-seeded need to comfort Kara. “What—” she murmurs but comes up short of anything to actually say.

“I am hope, but I am also a vessel of vast rage—one I struggle incessantly to contain. But maybe in the end, we’re the monsters we’re meant to be. Because chaos is coming Lena. A malevolent force driven by a singular goal—the destruction of all existence across the multiverse.”

There’s a chillingly blank expression on Kara’s face and Lena shudders involuntarily.

“Kara,” Lena whispers as she reaches out, momentarily forgetting her own anger at the godling sitting next to her.

Kara shakes her head once and seemingly comes back to herself, looking at Lena with renewed determination. “I understand the temptation to save a thankless world that on its best days would be all the better if we tore it apart and put it back together again. But the means matter, Lena. Otherwise there’s no difference between the heroes and the villains.”

“What do you want from me?” Lena finally asks in a defeated tone.

“On Krypton our houses would have arranged a match.”

Kara barely finishes the sentence and Lena’s already shouting. “Are you kidding me?! You want me to marry you?!”

“You’re the only one of them worth having—the only one of them worth saving. The only one fit to be a bride for the House of El,” Kara growls, finally letting a bit of her control slip. “—and I am the only one who can control you,” she finishes icily.

Lena’s heart races, but it’s not fear—the sharp thrill that’s making her blood soar—it’s arousal and she knows Kara can smell it. But she refuses to surrender. “Is that what this is all about—power? I have it and you want to wrest it from me?” She baits the rapidly angering godling in front of her.

Kara chuckles and her eyes gleam with a dark awareness. “Now you’re beginning to understand. You, my love, wield real power—the dangerous kind. The kind that dwells in boardrooms and stock markets and billion-dollar industries. The kind that can start wars before someone like me could hope to stop them.

But isn’t it exhausting Lena—being in control all the time?” Kara taunts. “Is that why you gave it up for Rhea so easily? The first time you spread your legs for her, was it shame you felt or _relief_?” She goads with a cruel smirk.

The sound of the resounding slap and Lena’s grunt of pain echo loudly in the suddenly still room. There’s no imprint of Lena’s hand on Kara’s cheek, but the pain now throbbing through Lena’s wrist confirms she did, in fact, just strike the strongest being on the planet. She’s lucky Kara shifted minutely at the last second or she’d probably have broken bones to contend with.

Kara’s eyes alight with a grudging respect and she gives Lena a small smile. “Touched a nerve, did I?”

Lena glares and burns with what she hopes looks like hate—but more truthfully feels like humiliation. Kara’s careless words strumming her pain with devastating accuracy.

“Yes!” She screams, crushed but still raging. “Some days I ache with the need to loose my control and give someone else the power!” She cries, wrathfully.

“But every time you’ve tried—it’s turned back on you and used to hurt you,” Kara completes Lena’s thought as if she were reading her mind.

“ _Yes_ ,” Lena hisses, spent.

Kara stands, pulling Lena with her effortlessly as she tugs their bodies close. “You want to be rendered slight and manageable—have someone else take responsibility for making the decisions—even if it’s only in the sanctity of your bed?” Kara asks with a small smirk, but it’s not really a question and they both know it.

Lena fights for the will to say no—to tell Kara to fuck off and bring an end to this madness. But the lasso won’t let her deny her deepest needs and maybe it’s that knowledge—she can’t choose to lie, it’s not an option—that makes it almost easy to admit.

“Yes,” Lena breathes.

“You want me to show you the ends to which I own you—take you to bed and demonstrate how _human_ you are—how easy it would be for me to sate my lust in your body no matter how hard you fight—to prove I can take you whenever and however I want, Lena?”

Kara’s words leave her thrumming with a nearly painful _need_. There’s something about the idea of Kara possessing her, fucking her, slipping into her tight cunt while Lena fights her—that leaves Lena trembling with shameful arousal.

Kara struggles to control her budding anticipation—so long as Lena’s bound by the lasso, there’s no need for safe words or checking in—between the lariat and her super senses, she can take Lena to the limits of her pleasure, emotionally, mentally, and physically.

Lena’s next words ignite the spark that sets Kara on fire and the time for careful thoughts and laid out plans passes.

“I _want_ you to stop _asking_ and start _claiming_ —isn’t that why you really came here tonight? Or has this all been an exercise in mental masturbation?” Lena taunts.

Before the last syllable leaves her mouth, she’s on her bed, gasping, securely bound to the sturdy frame by the lariat, a smirking Kara hovering above her. She can twist and turn and use her legs, but her arms are spread eagle, attached to the bed posts.

Kara grins wickedly as she studies Lena—an arrogant tilt to her chin, her normally soft features, sharp, eyes alight with what Lena can only imagine or more honestly fervently wishes, are the dirty, naughty things, she’s about to do.

Kara moves to settle kneeling between Lena’s thighs, but Lena slams her thighs shut. Kara barely acknowledges the token protest as she pries Lena’s legs open casually as if turning a page, her touch light but immutable.

She caresses Lena’s sharp jawline with the back of her hand softly and Lena can’t tear away from the depth of her gaze as her hand cradles Lena throat, her palm resting at its base, fingertips grazing the sides of her neck.

Lena feels her pulse punching against Kara’s long fingers as the godling tightens her grip on her neck, barely a movement at all, just a slight increase in pressure and yet its enough for Lena to realize the true extent of her powerlessness, lying underneath her soon to be lover— _wife_? 

Does Lena even want to be so irrevocably tied to Kara—enticing, ethereal, but very much _alien_? She knows with absolute certainty she’s never wanted it with anyone else.

Kara leans in unhurriedly and unexpectedly Lena’s vision sharpens and although the only sounds are the rustling of their clothing and her own increasingly harsh breaths, the volume’s turned way up. Kara never closes her eyes as their lips meet and Lena feels _lit up_ and _seen_. 

Her tongue teases Lena’s lips open and Lena feels almost faint, but Kara’s lips grow increasingly possessive and demanding, her tongue thrusting roughly inside, tasting and exploring, like it’s her right. Lena’s never felt such base heat. 

The kiss ends abruptly and Lena’s eyes snap open, until that second not realizing she’d closed them.

Kara smirks as Lena’s mouth tries to follow instinctively and she pushes her back onto the sheets, releasing her throat in the process. Lena breathes easier but misses the pressure all the same. 

Kara runs her hands from Lena’s sharp collarbones, down over her breasts, the friction causing her nipples to strain noticeably against the fabric of her shirt as Lena’s chest heaves. Kara parts her button-down with her fingertips as if parting tissue paper and the heedless show of casual strength speaks more eloquently than if Kara’d torn her clothes off.

She spreads the shirt open and her eyes feast on Lena’s breasts, barely concealed by a lacy black bra. “So beautiful,” she hums and Lena struggles to maintain a modicum of control. “So soft,” she breathes as the pads of her thumbs circle her nipples and they tighten and strain against the light touch.

“I held myself back for too long,” she continues, “but now you’re all mine,” she asserts with a low growl as she tears the expensive fabric down the middle, finally exposing all of Lena’s chest to her thirsting eyes and questing mouth.

Lena feels her arousal pooling between her thighs, but pride demands she at least feign indifference for as long as possible. Unfortunately for Lena’s stubborn pride, the moan that escapes as Kara’s hot, moist tongue lathes her nipple, betrays her spectacularly.

“It’s futile, you know,” Kara ceases her attentions to say with a smug smirk, “to pretend you’re not craving my touch. You may hate yourself for it, but I’m the reason your heart’s drumming in your chest.”

Lena refuses to be baited. Anything she says will only inflate Kara’s ego, the lasso binding her to the truth as securely as it ties her to the bed. Her traitorous body’s already providing ample evidence of her lust. Kara gives her another knowing smile before leaning back slightly and studying Lena’s jeans like they’re a jigsaw puzzle. 

After a moment she shrugs and tears them from Lena’s body roughly, taking her panties with them. Her boots vanish with a tug from hands moving too quickly for Lena to follow and just like that she’s naked except for the shirt still trapped underneath her, providing scant covering for her shoulders.

Kara runs her eyes over every inch of exposed skin before settling on Lena’s cunt. She idly strokes a nipple with her left hand, while she runs a fingertip through Lena’s dripping folds. Lena can’t contain a gasp as her pussy clenches desperately and her clit starts to harden and throb.

“Look at you Lena,” Kara finally says, blue eyes practically black, “so wet, so needy—and I’ve barely touched you,” she coos as a fingertip plays idly at her entrance.

“It’s a physiological response,” Lena finally breaks.

Before she can blink Kara’s standing and the absence of her body heat chills Lena in more ways than one.

“Does that mean you want me to stop?” Kara asks, although she knows the answer. She waits patiently.

“No, damn you!” Lena growls.

“That’s not very polite, Lena” Kara says as she climbs back onto the bed. Lena’s disoriented by the sudden shift as Kara flips her so she’s face down on the bed, her ass draped over Kara’s lap. “You have no idea, Lena how often I’ve fantasized about your ass,” she says almost reverently.

“It’s sinful Lena,” she moans as she palms it for the first time. “So firm and soft—your curves simply _delight_ me,” Kara tuts impishly as Lena squirms, while Kara rubs and massages and _indulges_. “I’ve often dreamt of running my tongue all over it, covering it in sharp nips, leaving my mark—

But I’m not going to reward your rudeness. So, tell me Lena—how many slaps do you think you deserve—for all the lies you’ve told, the laws you’ve broken, the crimes you’ve committed?” She asks, deadly serious.

Lena doesn’t get time to answer as the first slap rings out crisp and harsh as Kara stares greedily at the blossoming red imprint of her palm on Lena’s ass. Lena inhales sharply, but Kara admires her ability to bite back a scream, even though she used a relatively light touch, it definitely stung and startled the raven-haired CEO. “Count,” she orders sternly.

“One,” Lena grits out.

By the time they’re at five, Lena’s ass practically glows as Kara increases the intensity and her arousal’s puddled on Kara’s lap. Only a few scant tears leak down her face. “I’m proud of you Lena,” Kara praises for the first time. “You’re taking your punishment so well. I think five more would be fair—do you think you can handle it?” Kara challenges.

“Yes,” Lena says, voice barely shaking, only detectable to Kara’s superior senses.

“Good girl,” Kara encourages as the next two swats ring out in quick succession, Lena only just keeping up with the count. Kara rubs and massages lightly as she varies her placement—careful to maintain an ironclad control on her strength.

Lena wiggles her ass and Kara lets her catch her breath before delivering the final three. Lena’s entire body is flushed with arousal and need as Kara covers her in soothing strokes, letting her recover her equilibrium.

“Tell me Lena—has anyone ever spanked you before?” Kara asks curiously.

“No,” Lena spouts indignantly.

“Anyone ever taken you from behind, while you begged on hands and knees?”

“What do you think?” Lena snaps, as she looks over her shoulder regally.

Kara slides out from underneath her and kneels between her legs, pulling her hips back firmly so she has no choice but to bend her knees as Kara nips sharply at an earlobe— "well you’re about to,” Kara promises hotly in her ear.

She leans back again and peels off her clothes deliberately as Lena watches over her shoulder with baited breath as the marvel that is Kara’s chiseled physique appears before her eyes for the first time. Lena bites her tongue—knowing Kara’s making her wait on purpose, exercising control without a word, understanding Lena will wait because she wants to please Kara and because if Kara decides to stop, Lena knows she’ll spontaneously combust.

When she’s done stripping Kara resumes her position behind Lena, carelessly tossing the remnants of Lena’s shirt behind her, gripping Lena’s left shoulder and thrusting into her drenched and aching cunt without preamble, two fingers knuckle deep before Lena can even adjust. But she’s so wet, so ready, she’s already praying for more under her breath.

Of course, Kara hears her and the next thrust is three fingers wide and the stretch is so perfect in her tight channel, she can feel every stroke exquisitely. “You’re so tight Lena, I can barely move inside you—so perfect,” Kara husks into her ear.

Lena’s filthy moans spill into the air around them as she pushes back into every thrust. “Mine,” Kara claims her as she twists her fingers with every push, hitting exactly right. “Say it Lena,” Kara demands.

“No!” Lena rebels—but she’s not denying the truth of Kara’s statement—just refusing to admit it. Kara watches as her fingers sink into Lena with deliberate precision, building her up slowly—achingly so. Kara twists her nipple harshly and Lena cries out at the pleasure pain of the added sensation.

“Lena, you will obey or I will stop,” Kara says as she pulls out unceremoniously, resting her hand, sticky with Lena’s arousal on her hip.

“No,” Lena cries out, bereft and desperate, nowhere near satisfied—beginning to understand only Kara will be able to sate her now. “I’m sorry, Kara—please,” she begs shamefully. 

“Who do you belong to Lena?” Kara asks patiently. “Tell me who owns you, my love,” Kara commands.

“You—Kara,” Lena whines. “Please—” the word breaks on her sob.

“Please what?” Kara still makes her wait.

“Please fuck me, Kara, I need you,” she pleads, humiliated but no longer caring.

Kara leisurely retakes her position, this time straddling one of Lena’s legs so she can grind on her ass as she fucks her. Kara’s wetness on her ass thrills Lena—proof she’s not the only one affected. 

Kara fills Lena’s pussy and pauses as she spreads herself so her clit presses into the curve of Lena’s firm ass cheek. She gathers some of Lena’s copious wetness with her thumb and rubs at her puckered hole as Lena inhales sharply, squeezing her thighs.

“Kara—I’ve never,” she starts awkwardly—her cheeks burning with shame as she looks at Kara with wide eyes.

“I know—but you want me to, don’t you?” Kara goads. “You want me to fuck your ass, while I sink into your pussy with a force and speed that will ruin you for anyone else. Don’t you Lena?”

“Yes,” Lena breathes truthfully.

“Open up, my love,” Kara coaxes gently. Lena spreads her legs wider than before and Kara hums with pleasure, pumping her fingers in short deep strokes, each time her thumb inching a little higher on Lena’s perineum. She focuses unerringly on her g-spot, rubbing at the rough spot with every thrust and soon Lena’s keening with pleasure, Kara’s hand on her hip anchoring her as the pace increases, Kara’s fingers practically vibrating inside her cunt.

Lena begins to feel a familiar tightening in her lower belly as Kara leans into her and nips at her shoulder, her firm breasts pressing into Lena’s back.

“Look to your right,” Kara instructs and Lena remembers the mirror on the side wall as she lifts her face to the sight of Kara taking her from behind. “Be a good girl and keep your eyes open,” Kara demands. “I want you to watch me fuck your ass for the first time—although I promise you it won’t be the last,” she adds roguishly.

And as Lena watches, Kara sinks her thumb into her ass, slipping through the tight ring easily—Lena moans at the sight, closing her eyes for a second, but they immediately spring open as Kara pounds into her. 

“If you close your eyes again Lena, I will not let you come,” Kara warns.

Lena feels like every erogenous zone she’s ever had is being stimulated simultaneously and it’s hot and unexpected—warm, deep, an almost primal sensation. She drops to her elbows, instinctively seeking better leverage, meeting Kara thrust for thrust.

“That’s it, Lena,” Kara encourages. “Fuck yourself on my fingers,” Kara pants—her own orgasm fighting for life as she grinds messily on Lena’s ass. “So beautiful—such a _good girl_.”

And Lena wants to be good, she wants to please Kara and herself in the process, she wants Kara to be proud when Lena comes with Kara’s name on her lips.

They fall into a perfect rhythm with Lena rotating her hips and Kara thrusting and twisting and vibrating, every time she drives into her. 

“How does it feel?” Kara questions and Lena has no idea how Kara’s even coherent enough to form the question because she doubts she’ll be able to string two words together and not lose the exquisite rhythm, which she’s unwilling to risk.

But a moment later she answers, voice low and rough, “so good.”

“Good? You only feel good as I fill your cunt?” Kara probes, sounding almost offended, as she gives a particularly hard thrust in emphasis.

“So full inside,” Lena struggles to think, to articulate—

“So full inside where, my love,” Kara asks almost tenderly, with a composure belying the hard banging she’s subjecting Lena to—

“Inside my cunt—my ass—my heart,” Lena sobs out, stunning herself with the revelation.

Kara reaches around with the hand previously anchoring Lena’s hip and starts massaging Lena’s clit between two strong fingers as she fucks her and Lena’s on the verge of exploding, a galaxy of stars behind her eyelids, which is when she remembers, just as Kara pulls out with a growl.

“I told you to keep your eyes open, Lena!”

Shock, confusion, and anger are written on Lena’s face and Kara’s _almost_ amused. Lena’s eyes twitch, sweaty tendrils of her hair clinging to her forehead, her cunt stretched open, pussy leaking her arousal—Kara’s so tempted to lean down and taste, but she needs to teach Lena a lesson.

She holds preternaturally still, her viscously damp hand resting at the base of Lena’s spine. The moment stretches as Lena heaves and peers over her shoulder, expecting to find Kara smirking smugly, but instead finds a loving gaze as Kara presses a kiss between her shoulder blades. 

“You’re addicted to control Lena—it’s as natural as breathing. So much so that you call it largess and coat it in goodness. But just like your little non nocere project-ultimately, it’s about control. It’s you exercising your power over others and yourself.

Don’t get me wrong—it’s hot and such a turn on, to watch you strut and swagger and bend others to your will with a glance and your sharp intellect. But the thought of conquering you, mastering that formidable will of yours, stripping you of your authority—that’s the quintessence of arousal,” she hisses as she claims Lena’s heat again like it’s her due.

Lena cries out in sharp relief—barely listening as her cunt welcomes her little godling like no one’s ever been inside her before and she’ll never have another orgasm again unless her personal hero wills it.

“You looked to Kara Danvers for your moral compass and Supergirl for her rigid sense of honor and goodness, but if you only knew how many times I’ve gotten myself off to the thought of spreading your legs and fucking you so hard you screamed your throat raw—disappointing, isn’t it,” she needles, as Lena sinks her head into the pillows and grunts and moans her pleasure, “meeting your idols?” she mocks with a deep stroke.

“Answer me!” The slap on her already smarting ass catches Lena off guard, the sting encouraging her to arch away as she cries out, but she’s chasing her nascent orgasm, so she strains to compose a coherent answer as she writhes in pleasure and digs her elbows harder into the mattress, her head bracing against a skewed pillow. 

“You’ve never disappointed me,” Lena finally stutters tearfully, and no one’s more thunderstruck than her to realize it’s true. Kara and Supergirl hurt her, but disappointed? No. 

As Lena feels the blood rush to her pounding clit, feels the tingling start in the tips of her toes, it’s accompanied by a burst of clarity—a certainty born in the depth of her soul.

There’s plenty of blame to go around for the breakdown in communication between them. Lena’s secrets rival the number of stars in the milky way compared to the hero’s. Kara’s always cherished her with more love, more devotion, more loyalty, and more compassion than anyone else—ever.

The fingers inside of her cunt curl, grazing against her g-spot in that wickedly rough rhythm that makes her feel so perfectly owned. It has her crawling out of her skin with its impeccable balance of pleasure-pain as Kara adds a fourth finger and resumes her assault on her exposed nub, her hot mouth latching onto her neck and sucking, her pussy once again grinding into Lena’s ass.

“Kara!” she shouts as tears leak and her heart breaks and her orgasm erupts through the surface of her arousal and she clenches hard around Kara’s fingers as they roar into her and she gasps for air until she’s practically hyperventilating.

“Good girl,” Kara coaxes as she fucks her relentlessly and there’s no escape only Kara deep inside her until her godling’s coming too with Lena’s name on her breath and they tremble against each other as Kara collapses on top of her.

Kara mouths caresses anywhere she can reach on Lena’s body as she pulls out more delicately than a super powered being should be able to manage and she unbinds the lasso and tugs a blanket over them as they drift into a soothing state of somnolence but not quite sleep.

An undetermined time later Lena opens her eyes to find Kara staring at her with a heaviness too grave to reduce to mere words.

Lena reaches over and strokes her cheek with her fingertips. The kiss starts in their eyes and when their lips finally meet, a dam bursts, and they sink deeper. Lena feels her lips firm against Kara’s, but the kiss remains soft, gentle, slow—a sharp contrast from the passion they just shared. They hold it for a few seconds, before their lips move in tandem, slowly, cautiously. Lena moans from the back of her throat.

Kara's body’s taken over by an overwhelming feeling of relief. She caresses Lena’s face, running her hand to the back of her head, her fingers tangling in her long, wavy hair, pulling Lena into her, adding more pressure, wanting to dive deeper.

Kara moans and they draw apart for a moment, just to take a breath, but then Lena’s pulling her until they’re pressed tightly together. Kara’s eyes are closed but instead of darkness behind her eyelids they’re colors of Lena.

“Hi,” Lena whispers.

Kara opens her eyes with a hopeful smile.

“So,” Lena quirks her lips, “now that you’ve fucked some sense into me, what comes next?”

Kara bursts out laughing and it does all sorts of mushy things to Lena’s insides—she’s missed Kara’s laughter.

“Wait here,” she says sunnily, as she disappears in a gust of air. She’s back in a second with her phone in her hand and crawls back under the covers, propping herself up on a pillow and opening her arms. Lena slots into them as she’s done many times—just never before naked. Kara opens her mail app one-handed and pulls up an attachment to an email sent earlier tonight to the news desk.

Lena looks to her nightstand for her reading glasses as Kara hands her the phone. She starts reading only to dart an incredulous glance at Kara a minute later. But she just shakes her head and finishes the article.

“Darling,” she finally says as she sets aside the phone, “you don’t have to do this—you and I will work things out. I promise. Revealing your identity to the world—Kara you’re not just some local vigilante.”

“It’s not just about us—it’s about accepting my heritage and assuming the mantle of House El. Everyday I hold myself out as a paragon of truth—an example for aliens and humans alike. But I’ve been straddling both worlds without being completely honest with either. 

I encourage aliens to register under the Alien Amnesty Act, but I never registered because I’d be risking my secret identity. It’s easy for me to hide because Kryptonians look human—but most aliens don’t have that luxury. So, it’s okay for me to encourage beings, who for the most part are much less capable of defending themselves than I am, to risk their safety and livelihoods while I hide at CatCo?

Ms. Grant tore me a new one when I used Supergirl as a source because of the inherent bias I’d be hiding from our readers—something that violates the basic principles of journalistic integrity. But isn’t it the same thing when I write as Kara Danvers, ordinary human reporter? Don’t my readers deserve to know who they’re trusting? 

Since I landed on this planet, I’ve tried to be two people—who I was born to be and who I was forced to become to survive. Then I became Supergirl and everything became infinitely more complicated.

My real enemies have always been able to figure out my civilian identity—your mother, the Fort Rozz prisoners, Max Lord, Lex, even some idiot I went to high school with who kidnapped Alex. So, who am I hiding from exactly?

In the future, the Legionnaires live openly—and if they can do it, so can I,” Kara insists with finality and the slightly imperious tone Lena’s beginning to find speaks directly to her clit.

“Lena—no matter how long I live, lying to you will always rank as one of my biggest mistakes, my most fervent regret. I never want to disillusion anyone like that ever again—”

“But Kara, it doesn’t mean you have to tell the world you love Lena Luthor—” Lena argues. “I mean it’s courageous writing, putting yourself out there—but do you really owe the world _this much_ of yourself?”

“I showed you the article because if it makes you uncomfortable, I won’t use your name—but I’m not ashamed of loving you, Lena. I wasted years hiding when I’ve known for a very long time how I felt about you. If my feelings had been purely platonic, I wouldn’t have been so terrified of losing you—and you,” she grins, as she bumps shoulders playfully, “might’ve found a less destructive way of expressing your pain and anger.”

Lena quirks an eyebrow as she rolls her eyes. “In retrospect—it may have been a bit of an overreaction to want to reshape humanity because my best friend hid her superhero identity from me,” Lena grudgingly admits. 

“But seriously Kara—I’ll stand with you if you’re sure you want to burn your identity. I’m not ashamed of you either. But you know there’s no going back—once it’s out there, the crazies will come out of the woodwork and by crazies, I mean obsessed Supergirl fans with no respect for privacy and no concept of boundaries,” Lena points out.

“I know it’ll be an adjustment, but it’s not like I plan to publish my address and phone number—celebrities live in the public eye all over the world,” Kara shrugs. “Eventually no one will remember a time when Kara Zor-El had a secret identity.”

“What about Supergirl?” Lena asks curiously.

“Oh, Cat made me swear I wouldn’t ditch the brand—it was one of the trade-offs for her agreeing to return to CatCo.”

“One of? Do I even want to know?”

“No,” Kara shakes her head with a feigned shudder, “you really don’t.” 

“Kara, I’m sorry for hurting you,” Lena shift gears.

“I deserved it,” Kara replies immediately.

“No, Kara. You deserved my anger and I was certainly entitled to my pain, but I think I lost my mind for a bit. I went Lex Luthor level vengeful and did things I swore I’d never do. Thank you—for fighting to keep my love, for keeping me out of prison, for loving me still,” she looks away shyly.

“ _Always_ ,” Kara says as she steals a gentle kiss.

“In my life, no one ever regretted betraying me or spared any remorse for hurting me. No one ever asked for my forgiveness—I had no frame of reference for how to give it or even begin to believe I mattered enough for someone to genuinely want it,” Lena expresses with insight she wishes she’d found months ago.

“It’s done, my love,” Kara reassures her, “and I adore every part of you—your brilliant mind, your competitiveness at game nights, your wine pairings, your grand gestures, your dry humor, your smooth Irish lilt, your happiness, your _incredibly sexy body_ —” she adds with a corny eyebrow wag. 

Lena rolls her eyes, but the joy shines bright before slowly dimming.

“So, about this crisis?”

Kara sighs and immediately sobers. “It’s hard to know how to prepare since The Monitor excels more at cryptic monologuing than providing actually useful information, but it may become necessary to evacuate the planet if we can’t protect it.

Hope’s finalizing an updated design of your transmatter portal and it should be up and running within the hour,” she explains as she checks the time on her phone. “Alex already notified the President and J’onn’s rallying the aliens in order to prepare their ships to transport as many people as possible if it becomes necessary.

Also, I have Brainy retasking satellites to scan deep space because it’s obvious whatever the threat may be, it’ll come from space. Kal-El and Lois already started the evacuation of Argo City.

Hope also detected a quantum tower underneath National City—it’s been there a long time. She says it’s capable of generating a quantum flux field—but why we’ll need it is still anybody’s guess.”

“Kara, theoretically a quantum flux field can reverse the exogenic state of anti-matter, thereby dissipating anti-matter energy.”

“Wonderful—I know an anti-matter wave destroyed Earth 2. The heroes from Earth 1 will be here in a matter of hours to brainstorm and they know more about it. So, I think we should get some sleep,” Kara decides.

“Kara, about what you said—earlier tonight,” Lena murmurs uncertainly as she nestles her head in the crook of Kara’s neck.

“I meant every word, my love. But we’ll figure it out after we save the multiverse,” Kara replies with a soft kiss to Lena’s head as she closes her eyes.


	3. Don't Want To Know (the other side of a world without you)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I don't want to know who we are without each other  
> It's just too hard  
> I don't want to leave here without you  
> I don't want to lose part of me  
> Will I recover?  
> That broken piece, let it go and unleash all the feelings  
> Did we ever see it coming?  
> Will we ever let it go?
> 
> We are buried in broken dreams  
> We are knee-deep without a plea  
> I don't want to know what it's like to live without you  
> Don't want to know the other side of a world without you
> 
> -The Other Side by Ruelle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, some of you are getting your wish. I'm adding another chapter because otherwise this one would be 15,000 plus words. I'm aiming for finishing it early next week. 
> 
> Now, I've been doing pretty well keeping my rants to myself, but those of you who've read my other works know I tend to go off on a good rant every now and again. So here it goes.
> 
> I hate crossovers as a rule. If I don't watch the other shows, I don't want to be force-fed characters I don't know and don't care about in the shows I do watch. As far as I'm concerned, spend the time giving me a little character depth and continuity, which heaven knows the writers at the CW struggle to provide.
> 
> Pet peeves: Why, oh why, does Kara just sit around waiting for the crisis to come when she knew about it since last year? At least on Arrow, from what I can tell, Oliver tries to dig deeper and get to the truth behind The Monitor's identity. It's an idea they should've followed through on with Flash and Supergirl. It could've made for some very interesting plots as they dug deeper into Mar Novu, each within their respective earths-then before the crisis they compare notes and fit the puzzle pieces together. 
> 
> Plus the minute Oliver witnesses the antimatter wave destroy Earth 2, why not get on the horn (interdimensional extrapolator) and tell the people he knows on the other earths so they could work on a way to stop the wave from wiping out the multiverse? Like what's the big mystery with Mar Novu? An anti-matter wave is coming and yeah you'll have to defeat the Anti Monitor too or whatever, but hey, let's work on the more pressing problem since we have the time.
> 
> I could see a story arc where Kara goes to Lena, because of course you get your resident genius to work on stopping the anti-matter wave (quantum flux field) and they're forced to work together while Lena figures it out, and hey maybe she's tempted to backstab them in some way during that scenario (after she's already sold CatCo to Andrea) and that's how it comes out she knew Kara's secret identity because she killed Lex.
> 
> Subtle, I know, but I think it would've worked within the context of the whole crossover thing (which honestly I find more annoying than anything-again if I know nothing about those people forcing them into my show just pisses me off) and given us a little more credit for intelligence and their show a little more continuity and-hey! what do you know?!-made more sense for the hetero-normative main characters they claim to be writing!
> 
> PLOT HOLES YOU COULD DRIVE A SEMI-THROUGH:
> 
> Why did we need to include Argo in the crossover at all? Did we really need yet another baby sent to earth in a pod? Because the first two times left us wanting more? Seriously? Kara would've died on Argo with her kid-no way she'd send any kid of hers off alone to another planet when she thought she was going to die-not after everything she's suffered. 
> 
> Then to compound their error, the whole Jonathan sub-plot. What's the point? Of all the characters on Earth 1, they decide to give precious screen time to Lois?! It's not even her hubby's show!
> 
> Plus if Oliver was able to save a billion plus people with his extra heroics, which gave them a few extra seconds, I imagine having a Legionnaire (Brainy) and the White Canary (Sara) fighting the Anti-Monitor's army could maybe have saved everyone, maybe even the planet!
> 
> They make such a big deal about Brainy being a 12th level intellect, but then completely underutilized him. Like 9 times out of 10 Lena's brain kicks his brain in the ass. Also, if he's Coluan, why does he need to use tablets? Doesn't his brain communicate directly with other technology? Indigo's did and his does when he first arrives on Earth 38 and occasionally when the writers ditch continuity.
> 
> Why are you sending your two most powerful aliens off to deal with an earthquake in the midst of a world vaporizing crisis?! I'm sure people were hurt, but hello!, no point in saving them if they're going to be vaporized minutes later because you failed to SAVE THE PLANET.
> 
> Finally (for now), how is it that Superman & Supergirl solar flare while infusing the solar panels on the quantum tower, yet drop to the ground and a minute later use their heat vision to fight the Anti-Monitor's army? I mean I could think of several ways to do it, yellow sun grenades or whatever but they don't even make a token attempt to explain it! Solar flare knocks them out for days, not seconds. Plus they weren't even operating under a full yellow sun. The sky was RED because of the anti-matter wave!

A scant four hours later Kara wakes slowly, emerging from a dream she can’t quite remember. Lena’s still cuddled into her, left arm cradling Kara’s waist, silky raven hair obscuring her features, head pillowed on Kara’s chest.

Kara breathes a slow sigh of relief—last night could’ve ended in disaster, but instead they’d found their way back to each other. She wishes there were more time to talk, to simply exist in each other’s presence. But she dreads the coming dawn—knowing even this tiny measure was a gift. She slides out from under Lena gently and smiles when her lover wraps herself around Kara’s warm pillow instead. 

She showers quickly and changes into her suit, heading to the kitchen to make coffee as she calls Alex. She’ll need everyone at the DEO when Oliver and Barry arrive from Earth 1. 

Last night Alex balked at Kara’s insistence they needed to prepare earth for evacuations, not quite believing Kara’s tale of the impending annihilation of the multiverse, but J’onn backed her up and they’d informed the President, who was eventually persuaded to contact his counterparts across the globe—what they chose to do was on them. Kara personally reached out to Bruce Wayne—what he’d do was anyone’s guess. Batman’s not exactly a team player and his trust issues make Lena’s pale in comparison.

“Kara,” Alex barks in greeting, “where are you?”

“At Lena’s,” Kara replies and waits for the explosion.

“Why?! Kara, you can’t seriously be considering trusting her after Myriad—after everything. It’s too big a risk!”

“It’s done, Alex—and I’m done listening to you when it comes to Lena,” she replies calmly.

“I’m still Director of the DEO,” Alex blusters, but Kara cuts her off immediately.

“President Plastino placed the DEO under my command via executive order last night. Check your email,” Kara informs her authoritatively. “J’onn, Lena, and I will be at the DEO within the hour for a briefing with Barry and Oliver. 

By now Brainy and Hope have the transmatter portal operational. After I speak with Barry and Oliver, I expect to give the order to begin evacuating this earth at which point CatCo will begin a worldwide broadcast—”

“Evacuate to where?” Alex interrupts. “If space itself is being erased, we can’t just fly off earth.”

“We’ll know more after the briefing, Alex. Make sure Nia and Brainy join us. I need to go,” Kara says as she hangs up without waiting for Alex to respond. If she’d let her, Alex would continue questioning her strategies and there’s simply no more time for dissension.

* * *

She sets the steaming mug of coffee down on the nightstand as she sits on the edge of the bed closest to a still-sleeping Lena. She wishes she could give her more time, but they need to go. She brushes Lena’s hair off her face with her fingertips as she bends down and places a gentle kiss on her lips.

“It’s time to wake up, my love,” she whispers and watches as Lena slowly blinks her eyes, before finally focusing on Kara. She glances out the window, where slight tendrils of light presage the coming dawn. 

“What time is it,” she asks, voice still rough with sleep.

“5:30'ish—I wish I could let you sleep more, but we need to get to the DEO,” Kara answers as she leans back, giving Lena room to sit up and grab her coffee. She takes a grateful sip and closes her eyes as the hot, bitter brew braces her.

When she opens her eyes, Kara’s gazing at her affectionately with a soft smile. “You’re so beautiful and I wish we had more time,” Kara trails off. Lena reaches out for her hand as Kara gathers her thoughts.

“Lena, I never want to know who we are without each other. You’re a part of me I don't want to lose. It's just too hard,” Kara starts.

“I’m with you— _always_ ,” Lena assures her when it seems Kara’s at a loss for words.

“I’m not sure what we’ll be facing today, but I know it’ll be dangerous and there’s a strong probability all of us won’t make it—and I know it’s selfish, but I don't want to leave here without you.”

“Kara—I don't want to know what it's like to live without you either,” she scoffs lightly. “I freaked when the bunker’s defenses loaded the canons with kryptonite. Even with how enraged and wounded I felt—I _never_ wanted you dead. If the world ends today, then I want to be by your side. I hate that I spent weeks loathing you—you were right, I should’ve just come to you when I found out and I know there still would’ve been a world of hurt and pain, but it would’ve been honest and real and maybe we’d have gotten to this point sooner—”

Kara hushes her gently. “You were heartbroken and it was my fault,” Kara responds. “It’s done. But I need you to promise me you’ll stay by my side today and do as I say without question. I have hope that with you by my side, we’ll defeat whatever being bent on destruction is out there—but—if not, I don't want to know the other side of a world without you. Whatever fate has in store—I need you with me, Lena,” Kara pleads and, in her eyes, Lena sees all the love she’d ever longed for and in her voice hears all the trust she'd ever needed.

She smiles tenderly with all her devotion and all the confidence she feels in Kara as she cradles her cheek in the palm of her hand and let’s their foreheads meet. “Always,” she promises and seals it with a kiss.

* * *

They’re flying to the DEO at the dawn of a red sky when Lena’s startled by a nearby roar. “Kara—is that a dragon?!”

Kara lands, setting Lena behind a concrete barrier as she surveys the scene. People are panicking as a dragon terrorizes them with random bursts of fire and some idiot with a doomsday slogan on a sign shouts inanely. “The end of the world is licking at our heels! Soon, thou shall be not but dust, twisting and writhing in the dead of space! Not even Supergirl will save you from—”

But he never finishes his sentence as Kara leaps in front of him shielding him from a fireball with her cape. “Guess Supergirl was able to save you,” she snarks. “Now, go!” she yells at him as he cowers, then turns to the dragon, who lands with a heavy thud.

“Hey, Spike! Remember me? Ilana's worried about you. She knows you're afraid of something, but she just wants you to come home,” she explains as she moves towards him carefully. “Come here,” she coos as the dragon allows her closer. She’s able to pet him and he transforms to his monitor lizard state.

Kara pets him gently as she scoops him up, making her way back towards Lena. “What’s got you so spooked buddy?” she asks rhetorically.

“A friend of yours I take it,” Lena says as she rolls her eyes with an unbelieving grin.

“We’ve met,” Kara admits, as she hands him over to Lena. “Hang on to him—we’ll take him to the DEO and someone will get him back home.”

* * *

They land amidst controlled chaos in the DEO and Brainy immediately approaches. 

“The USGS didn't register an early warning, so it took everyone completely by surprise,” Alex blurts out, ignoring Lena as she speaks to Kara.

With a nod to Lena, Brainy begins his report to Kara while Alex glares at his side. “She does mean everyone because this earthquake is quite literally, worldwide. But the seismic activity isn’t coming from within the planet, it's coming from without,” Brainy concludes as he guides them towards the main monitors.

“That’s—” Kara begins, but Brainy interrupts.

“Extra-normal?”

“I was going to say impossible, but okay,” Kara agrees.

“Yes, yes, a fair descriptor. As would be, uh unfeasible, unthinkable, absurd, outlandish. But, however you choose to describe this event, one thing is absolutely certain. We have—”

“A major crisis on our hands,” J’onn finishes for him before Brainy overloads on descriptors. “Last year, The Monitor tested Kara and Earth 1's heroes with Dr. Deegan and the Book of Destiny. This year, he tested me by releasing Malefic. All to make sure we’re ready for this—”

“What exactly is _this_?” Alex asks as Lena stands quietly by Kara’s side, listening and processing.

“Whatever it is, it’s hurtling through space at an impossible speed. I calculate it will reach the edge of the universe in exactly 5.3 hours, at which point, it will boomerang back. Once it intersects again with our solar system, the results will be, in a word, cataclysmic,” Brainly declares emphatically.

“Exactly when will it reach us?” J’onn asks.

“There are too many variables to calculate precisely, but if this wave isn't stopped by tomorrow night there will be no more us, no more future—no more anything,” Brainy informs them as the sound of explosions reach them.

“Any inhabited planets in its trajectory before it reaches us?” Alex asks.

“Just one—Argo. But thanks to J’onn’s warning last night and Kara’s quick action, Superman and Lois evacuated the planet to Earth 1 overnight. It’s the last stop on the trajectory so they’re safe for now. He’ll be here with Oliver and Barry shortly,” Brainy informs them.

“Panic is rising out there. I want every available agent in the field until we get a handle on whatever this thing is,” Alex shouts at her agents in a barely controlled panic.

“Belay that order,” Supergirl commands. “There will be no more knee-jerk reactions,” Kara projects her voice across the command center as she stares at Alex. “Pursuant to executive order, I am in command of the DEO until relieved by the President. Agent Vazquez, liaise with the governor's office and set up a hotline for the first responders. Once calls start coming in, direct our teams to where they are needed and will be most effective.”

Before she can say anything else, a group of people appear in a flash. Kara was expecting Oliver and to see Superman is not unexpected after Brainy’s update, but she did not expect the others and Barry’s not with them.

Batwoman she’s worked with, but she’s unfamiliar with the young woman sheltering by Oliver or the older woman standing in front of them. Before she can say anything else, Batwoman slugs the older woman, but she barely flinches.

“That rabbit was about to talk,” the irate hero grits through her teeth.

“This one speaks to rabbits,” Brainy mutters under his breath as Lena hides a grin behind her hand.

“It’s okay,” Kara says as she steps between Batwoman and the newcomer. “We’re all on the same side.”

“Are we?” the Bat questions, “because I don’t know them,” she says gesturing to the group behind her.

“But you know me and if you were brought here with all these other heroes, it's probably because we need you. I trust everyone in this room with my life. Including you,” she says confidently with all the power of her charisma.

“Well, then I guess you should all just call me Kate,” the Bat says after a brief pause, standing down as she takes off her mask, revealing the youthful visage of Katherine Kane, Bruce Wayne's cousin.

“Uh, I'm Mia, Oliver's daughter,” the younger woman introduces herself.

“I never knew he had a daughter,” J’onn comments.

“He gets that a lot,” Mia responds with a smile.

“My name is Harbinger,” the older woman announces and Lena rolls her eyes, sure that’s not the name the presumptive hero was born with. “I am working with The Monitor.”

Kara leads them to a conference room and once they’re all sitting, she points at Harbinger. “Okay you, start talking.”

Harbinger stands by the screen in front of the room and waves her hand. A map of the solar system appears depicting a bright red wave approaching. “There's a wave of anti-matter sweeping across this universe, destroying everything in its path.”

“I've seen the anti-matter wave in action,” Oliver says. “It wiped all of Earth 2 right out of existence,” he says in a hollow voice.

“I brought you all to Earth 38,” Harbinger continues, “because this is where the Monitor wants you to make your stand. This universe is the tipping point. If we don't stop the anti-matter wave here, it will continue to the next universe, and the next, and the next. Until it has obliterated, not only every Earth, but everything across all reality.”

“Right,” Oliver sighs. “So, we’re going to need a bigger team. Where's Barry? Where are the Legends?”

“Doing reconnaissance. I'm headed to check on them now,” Harbinger replies before disappearing in a flash of white light without another word.

“I still don’t like her,” Kate says as she shakes her head.

“Well, Brainy's algorithm will help forecast exactly how much time we have until the anti-matter wave hits,” Kara says as they all stand. “Thank you all for being here. I know we can beat this together,” she says confidently.

As they all walk out to the control center, the earth shakes and they watch as a tower erupts in front of the DEO. Lena looks to Kara, “the quantum tower?” she guesses.

“This is a new problem,” Oliver muses as another group of people appear in a flash with Harbinger.

“Wait, the tower isn’t a threat,” Barry says as he sees the group in front of him poised for action.

“We know,” Lena says, growing impatient with the way information is flowing piecemeal, impairing her ability to see the bigger picture. “It’s a quantum tower emitting a quantum flux field, which can theoretically reverse the exogenic state of the anti-matter wave, thereby dissipating the anti-matter energy, which is why the red skies are beginning to dissipate,” Lena says as she gestures to the clearing skies.

“Right,” Harbinger agrees. “It's the only thing that can save the people of this world.”

They return to the conference room with the newcomers, Barry, Sara Lance also known as the White Canary, and Ray Palmer, the Atom. Harbinger begins her explanation with another magical wave of her hand. “At the dawn of time, the Monitor placed quantum towers on key earths as a last line of defense,” she says, revealing a map of the towers across the multiverse.

“So, the tower can stop this earth from being destroyed?” Oliver clarifies.

“If you can protect it,” Harbinger agrees.

“Protect it from what?” Kara asks pointedly.

“The Anti-Monitor. He commands forces greater than any army. When the tower stops the wave, they will come to thwart any effort to save this planet and its people.”

Kara shifts to the front of the room, subtly drawing attention to herself. “We’re not going to wait like sitting ducks for an attack. Alex, contact the President and begin the immediate evacuation to Earth 1. Brainy, is the transmatter portal operational?”

“Yes,” Brainy replies. “The alien ships were grouped and assigned to pick up points pursuant to the grid Hope established last night. Nia’s at CatCo—they’ve been broadcasting the designated coordinates worldwide since early this morning, along with your prerecorded message, and the first wave is ready to depart.”

“Make it so,” Kara instructs and both Lena and Brainy grin openly, while Alex rolls her eyes. Kara allows herself a brief smile. She waits until only Lena remains with her.

“I need you and Brainy working on a defense system for the tower,” Kara tells her. “We need to stop the Anti-Monitor here. It’s our best hope. We already gave him Argo—but that’s it. I’m not willing to lose earth,” Kara says vehemently and Lena sees the burning world in her eyes and understands for the first time the visceral agony losing another home will inflict on Kara.

“I have an idea,” Lena says, the glittering genius in her eyes instilling confidence in Kara, fueling her hope. “I’ll be in the weapons lab—come find me if you’re going to leave,” Lena adds as she walks out of the room, already evaluating and discarding potential solutions.

* * *

Kara spots Superman standing out on the flight entrance to the DEO, gazing mournfully out at the city. She sighs and rolls her eyes internally, but decides to join him. She stands by him quietly until he breaks the silence.

“I feel like a fool. I thought I could give up the cape and just have everything I ever wanted and now, Argo is gone, this Earth is in danger, and part of me can't help thinking that I deserve this for thinking that I could have so much. That anyone could,” he scoffs.

“I get it,” Kara says. “I've been thinking that a lot, too, lately. How I can never do enough. How my mistakes outweigh all the good I've ever done. But it's not true. It can't be and we're going to save them—the entire multiverse. We've saved worlds before and we're going to do it again,” and her tone brooks no argument.

“How are you so hopeful right now? You've lost so much,” he says with awe.

Kara shrugs. “Before our parents sent us to Earth nobody here knew about Krypton. Now, there are stories, celebrations, museum exhibits. Just like you shared our home with your family, we shared our home with this whole world. Krypton's not just a place, it's a spirit. It's hope. It's sacrifice. It's what our parents did for us. We have made our parents proud by fighting for what's right. So, we have to keep fighting and as long as that spirit is alive, Krypton will never die,” she tells him with quiet certitude.

* * *

Lena looks up from the terminal where she’s working on modifying a schematic for an anti-aircraft gun—if she’s right, her idea of a quantum flux anti-matter gun may give the heroes the edge they need to defeat the anti-monitor’s minions—whatever they may be. She expects to see Kara, but tenses when Alex strides in instead.

Brainy looks up from where he’s working on building the prototype based on Lena’s design. “Brainy—I need to speak with Lena. Please wait outside,” Alex tells him.

He glances at Lena as he puts down the component in his hand. He knows Kara went to speak with Lena last night in the hopes of earning Lena’s forgiveness and bringing her back onto the team and from the mere fact of Lena’s presence, he deduced she succeeded in her attempt. The probability of success was high given everything he knew about the women and their relationship. 

But the probability Alex would accept Lena after everything that happened, was conversely equally low and the likelihood of harm coming to Lena if left alone with Alex proportionally high. But one look from Alex convinces him the probability of his becoming a casualty of her anger grows higher for each second he hesitates. He clears his throat. “Right—I’ll give you a few minutes,” he says as he decides finding Kara would be the most prudent course of action.

“Here to arrest me during the apocalypse, or to try and kill me because you weren't successful the other day?” Lena snarks, refusing to show any fear.

“I wasn't trying to hurt you, Lena. I was trying to stop you from using Myriad,” Alex says, visibly straining for control.

“Right. Is that why you had a Claymore satellite aimed at me? How close did you come before Kara stopped you?” Lena asks and the guilt-ridden look on Alex’s face is all the answer she needs. “Funny, how I’m the villain in your story, yet I never tried to kill anyone,” Lena needles.

“Get off it, Lena—you’re no innocent,” Alex scoffs and then sighs. “Look, I’m sorry that I lied to you and not just me, and not just Kara, it was all of us—James, J'onn, Brainy, Nia.”

“You know, you actually had me believing that you hated Supergirl,” Lena tells her.

“I wasn't pretending about that, but it’s a long story,” she says with a shake of her head as she remembers being mind-wiped. “Listen, I know that you feel burned by us and that there is nothing that I can say in this moment that is going to change that. But if you could please just put your feelings aside, we really do need your help and I need to know that’s what you’re doing in here and not plotting to turn yet another weapon against my sister or humanity.”

“I don't want your apology, Alex. You will never again have my friendship or my trust. I have learned my lesson from you and James and J’onn. Kara and I have made peace with what we did to each other and we’ve come out the other side stronger, _together_. But her motives for keeping her secret were distinctly different from the rest of you. 

The three of you sat on your moral high horses, judging me, no matter how many times I pulled your asses out of the proverbial fire—so I am done proving myself to any of you. You did everything in your power to keep Kara from sharing the truth with me and I _know_ how important your opinion is to her. If you’d trusted me just a little—doubted a _little_ of your own infallibility, we all would’ve been better for it.

The world is at stake, of course I'm helping. It’s your eternal hubris that makes you think otherwise, but then, you've made it perfectly clear how little you've thought of me these last few years. I would help even if Kara and I hadn’t worked out our differences—but now—now I will do everything my considerable intellect allows to keep _her_ safe and save the multiverse.”

The door opens again before Alex can respond and J’onn enters with Brainy and Barry close behind. “The other heroes have gone to the tower to set a defensive perimeter,” he tells the two women. “Lena, whatever you’re working on, I have a feeling we’ll need it soon—Kara said she’d be back for you shortly. Alex, I need you at the downtown evacuation point with a team for crowd control.” Alex takes a deep breath to settle herself. It rankles that Kara made J’onn her second in command, but she’s a good soldier and the end of existence is not the time for petty jealousies.

“Fine,” she snaps as she strides out the door without another word to Lena. J’onn nods at Lena as he follows Alex, and Brainy and Barry slip past him to help finish the prototype.

* * *

The heroes stand before the quantum tower in awe. 

“Whatever is inside there, it's working. The anti-matter wave has stopped and it's slowly dissipating,” Superman points out.

“How do we protect that thing from an enemy we know nothing about, but we know is coming?” Kate asks.

“We head inside and stake out strategic positions. If we're fortified, we control the battle,” Oliver advises, as another explosion rocks the ground. “Let’s go inside and dig in,” he urges.

“Go,” Kara tells the group. “I’ll be back with the others shortly.”

She looks at them as they walk inside the tower—Superman, the Green Arrow and his daughter, Batwoman, the Atom, the White Canary—and thinks these are the best odds they’re going to get. Hopefully with Lena and Brainy’s genius, and Barry’s speed, it will tip the odds in their favor.

* * *

She finds Lena and Brainy out on the weapons range behind the DEO watching Barry use the Speed Force to assemble what looks like a cross between a compact anti-aircraft gun and a missile launcher. Her eyes widen as she approaches. “Dare I ask?” she says quietly to Lena.

“It’s a quantum flux anti-matter gun—I modified the schematics of the anti-aircraft guns and surface to air missile defense system we use in conventional warfare,” Lena explains. “It uses an infrared homing guidance system and laser illumination. It’s interfaced with Hope and the Claymore 3—linked AI sentience,” she explains proudly.

At Kara’s shocked silence she rolls her eyes. “What? Luthor Corp was at the forefront of weapons development for the US armed forces. Lex even brought home a SAM missile once.”

“Of course he did,” Kara deadpans.

“But we’ll need to scan The Monitor’s minions for a unique frequency so Brainy and I can calibrate the gun—you’ll have to buy us a few minutes,” Lena cautions.

Barry slows down and phases back into normal time, smiling at the completed weapon. “You’ll have to carry it to the tower,” he says to Kara as he glances at Lena.

“It weighs about 1100 pounds,” Lena says with a shrug. “It’ll feel like a lunchbox,” she cracks as she looks at Kara.

“A cumbersome, unwieldy lunchbox,” Kara retorts with a shake of her head.

“Uh, before we go, I have something for you,” she says as she hands Lena an opalescent malachite metallic wristlet with the El coat of arms embossed onto it. “It’s an amalgamation of the best tech of the exosuit. You press on the Coat of Arms to activate it,” she explains. “It’s made of dwarf star alloy, like the Atom’s suit,” she explains. “He gave it an upgrade.”

Lena slips on the cuff and the surface glimmers for a second, then spreads out, quickly sheathing her from the neck down before consolidating and activating the HUD display. The suit has the L-Corp emblem on the upper left chest plate. “It’s a sleeker version of the exosuit, including the transmatter portal feature,” Kara explains, tentatively, unsure if Lena will appreciate the gesture or be disgusted by it.

Lena deactivates the suit and pulls Kara into a tight hug. “Thank you, my love,” she whispers into her ear. No one knows they’re together yet, but Barry and Brainy likely won’t be gossiping anytime soon. She pulls away reluctantly as Kara steps to the weapon and hefts it with one hand so she can maneuver under it in order to position it effectively for flying.

“Show off,” Barry teases as the group takes flight—Brainy once again grateful Kara managed to recover his Legionnaire ring. He’s not a fan of being flown around like cargo.

* * *

The group reaches the tower just as an army of what can best be described as phantoms descend on it. Kara quickly positions the anti-matter gun for broadest coverage of the surrounding area and Lena and Brainy immediately power it up and begin scanning.

“I’ll cover you,” Kara shouts as she takes to the sky to protect Lena and Brainy from any covert attack, while Barry heads inside the defensive perimeter to help the rest of the team. They’re not drawing much attention so far because they’re not firing on the ghouls.

Kara takes a second to focus on the ongoing evacuation of the city. She spots Nia and Kelly Olsen on the ground coordinating the boarding of the ships as Andrea’s tech is put to good use broadcasting Supergirl’s message of hope and directives for the evacuation. As she watches, J’onn arrives, piloting Brainy’s Legionnaire ship and Alex establishes a perimeter to start beaming people up.

Supergirl’s drawn back to the fight as the sky begins to turn red again. She spots the other heroes emerging onto the roof of the building housing the tower while Superman shoots up to the top of the turret. He’s focusing his heat vision on the exterior panels.

“Lena!” Kara shouts as she points at Clark.

“Go!” Lena yells—"we just need another minute!”

Kara shoots up to the sky and joins Clark. His power soon wanes—he falls to the ground as Kara continues to pour all her energy into her heat vision. A minute later she solar flares and plunges towards earth but Barry catches her before she suffers any damage. They join Superman and the Atom as they try to determine whether the tower’s working again.

“Always got to one-up me, huh?” Clark asks with a grin.

“Did it work?” Kara asks.

“You did it,” the Atom says. “The tower is working again and the portal is open. Uh, but the ships better be fast,” he announces discouragingly. “The Supers' charge didn't actually stop the wave, it just slowed it down. According to Brainy's algorithm, we have 14 minutes before it makes contact with Earth.”

“Well, then we better make every minute count,” Kara says.

“We got your back,” Oliver says he approaches with the others. He draws his bow as a new phalanx of shadow demons approach, screeching at decibels damaging to the human ear. “We need to keep those shadow demons at bay until every last ship gets through the portal,” Oliver shouts as he begins shooting.

Kara races to Lena and Brainy and quickly explains. Lena thinks for a few seconds—there has to be a way to boost the tower further. If they can augment the Supers’ power boost, they may still be able to turn back the wave.

She pulls up the energy projection feature of her suit on the HUD display. If she can alter the frequency to that of yellow sun radiation, she can blast Kara with it and create an enhanced artificial Photonucleic Effect Kara can then use to provide a prolonged blast to the solar panels on the tower. She programs the calculations into the suit quickly.

“Do you trust me?” she asks Kara urgently.

“Just tell me what to do,” Kara immediately answers.

“I’m going to blast you with yellow sun radiation—fly back up to the tower and focus your heat vision on the panels as long as possible,” Lena quickly explains.

“Hit me!” Kara exclaims as she steps back.

A stream of yellow energy beams out of Lena’s gauntlet and Kara takes to the skies, blasting the solar panels with all the energy flowing through her cells.

Lena sees Superman in her peripheral vision, fighting without his powers. It's clear he relies way too much on brute strength as opposed to combat training-it's painful to watch. She lifts her other hand and blasts him in the ass with the same yellow sun radiation as Kara. It catches him off-guard and he yelps as Lena smirks, but soon he's marshaling his powers and attacking the enemy more effectively.

The team continues battling as Brainy works to latch onto a unique signature for the demons. “Sprock!” he shouts as he bangs on the side of the anti-matter gun in frustration. “Little boxes, little boxes, boxes and boxes, and subroutines and Socrates and Aristotle and Avatar and matrices and Memento and Monty Python and Dreamer!” he shouts as The Monitor appears.

“The battle is lost! We must retreat and save our resources for battles yet to come,” he declares stoically.

“No!” Lena roars as she continues to stream yellow sun radiation at Kara.

“It’s working,” the Atom shouts as he tracks the anti-matter wave on his gauntlet. “The wave is stopping!”

Brainy shouts inarticulately and the anti-matter gun springs into action, vaporizing the specters, their numbers dwindling exponentially. “It’s working! We did it, Lena! You’re amazing! It’s astounding,” Brainy exults as the sounds of the gun firing and the specters screeching rend the air and he gesticulates like a conductor directing a symphonic masterpiece. It lasts for one minute, then two, the syncopated spurts of the gun firing gradually diminishing until deafening silence replaces it.

The Atom places his hand on Lena’s shoulder. “You can stop. The wave’s gone,” he says quietly, but the profound smile on his face speaks for them all as they stare around them in wonder.

Kara lands gently next to Lena and Lena deactivates her suit as Kara wraps her in her arms. “I knew you would save us, my love,” Kara croaks out just before she collapses into Lena’s arms, unconscious.

“Kara!”

Superman catches Kara before Lena’s forced to drop her—unable to bear the Kryptonian weight without the power of her suit. He x-rays her to ascertain her condition. “She’s solar flared—she's just unconscious. Her vitals are weak but within normal range after a solar flare. She needs rest and we probably shouldn’t use the sun lamps—let her cells recharge naturally,” he recommends.

“Let’s get her back to the DEO,” Lena speaks up, hand still gripping Kara’s shoulder.

Clark stares at her as if searching for the answer to an important question. Alex read him in on the events at the fortress and how Lena attacked Kara and tried to rewrite mankind, but there’s no doubting Lena just saved earth and maybe the multiverse, so he decides she’s owed the benefit of the doubt. Besides, he’s been here with Kara before and if he mistreats Lena, she’ll ream him out for it when she wakes. “Of course,” he says as he turns to face the group with Kara cradled in his arms.

“It was not supposed to be like this,” The Monitor intones. “This is not the ending I foresaw. Things are turning out differently than I expected. But one thing is certain. Everything we know, everything there is, and everything there ever was, is still ever doomed.”

“God save us all from prideful time traveling cosmic beings,” Lena snorts with a cocked eyebrow and her trademark eye-roll. “You just admitted nothing turned out as you _ordained_ ,” she mocks. “Yet you’re still egotistical enough to think you know how this all will end. But, somehow, I get the feeling you’re at the root of this crisis—so, no offense, or take offense, I really don’t care, but take a hike. I’ll place my faith in Supergirl. I think I speak for all of us,” she says as she looks around for confirmation, “when I say we’re staying put until she wakes up.”

Barry glances at Oliver as the rest of them shift subconsciously to stand in a semi-circle around Lena. “What she said,” Oliver says with a sigh as he cocks his head in Lena’s direction. 

Hell, he’s been making deals, believing he’s fated to die, and watching people he cares about fade from existence repeatedly for months all at the behest of a being he suspects did indeed cause the crisis they’re facing. Kara’s given him the first glimmer of hope maybe he can still reunite with his wife and watch his children grow up and damn if that’s not worth telling a cosmic being to go fuck himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seriously, with like 20 minutes extra thought into each episode, they could be 100xs better!
> 
> Whew! I feel better now. Thanks for reading and I really hope you enjoy this installment. I definitely came out better than I expected! 
> 
> Just some FYI:
> 
> The Photonucleic Effect is canon from the Superman comics. They kind of mention it a couple of times on Supergirl, but it's glossed over and I don't remember them calling it that, but you can read about it here: https://superman.fandom.com/wiki/Photonucleic_Effect
> 
> My FAVORITE part of the crossover is Wil Wheaton as doomsday guy. I LOVE a good homage. I also loved that they included Spike. Who doesn't love a dragon?!


	4. The Multiverse Is Made of Trust (and faith, and pixie dust)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “I know Alex has tunnel-vision when it comes to protecting Kara,” Clark ventures, “but she means well.”
> 
> “Yes well, the road to hell and all that,” Lena replies with a wave of her hand. “Besides, I hardly think you’re anyone to judge. You abandoned Kara as a child and then you deserted earth for Argo. You have no clue what we’ve been through. I earned the right to the truth a long time ago.”
> 
> “I know Kara certainly agrees,” Superman responds conciliatorily. “But think of the position you put her in once you turned on her. J’onn, Alex, Winn, me, and until just recently James—we kept cautioning her you’d turn on her eventually—and then you did,” he says bluntly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've had this chapter written for almost a week, but I wanted to mesh it with the next so I was holding off posting it. However, real life has intruded and it's taking me longer than I intended so now we'll have yet another chapter!

They follow Superman back to the DEO, where he lays Kara gently on a stretcher in the med bay. Dr. Hamilton immediately steps up to check her vitals as Lena explains the solar flare. Superman, Oliver, and Barry hang back to give the doctor room to work. 

“Her molecular scan shows increased cellular density, which is normal after a solar flare,” the doctor reports after she completes her exam, “and her radiation levels are stable. I’d like to hold off on using the sun bed unless it becomes urgent to wake her. She should be up and around soon, but we can set her up on the roof to absorb as much natural sunlight as possible now that the skies are clear over the city again.”

“Thank you, Amelia,” Lena says. She’d gotten to know the doctor during her time working at the DEO and found in her a kindred scientist. 

“Of course,” the doctor responds with a nod before making her way out of the room.

As the door swings shut, The Monitor and Harbinger appear in a flare of white light along with another figure in an olive-green suit with a ringed collar colored a dulled golden hue. A flash of recognition lights Barry’s face. “Nash?”

The tall man shakes his head. “Once upon a time. Not anymore. Now, I'm simply a man serving his penance.” 

“Penance for what?” Superman asks. 

“I freed the Anti-Monitor from his confinement only to become a Pariah, sentenced to bear witness to his actions.”

“If there is any chance at surviving the Crisis, we need the Waverider’s technology,” The Monitor intones, ignoring Pariah as the other heroes file into the room. “The Anti-Monitor will not cease his relentless pursuit to destroy the multiverse.”

Lena scowls and fury burns in her eyes. “We’ve made it clear—we’re not going anywhere until Supergirl wakes and so far, you’ve done nothing but spout cryptic nonsense, which makes me less inclined to listen to anything you say. You said the anti-matter wave would destroy the multiverse and we stopped it. You said the battle was lost and we won. You told Oliver he’d die and yet here he still stands. We’ve earned the right to the truth—all of it, not the bits and pieces you’ve been using to manipulate heroes across the multiverse for months,” she bites out clearly.

The Monitor glances at Harbinger who disappears without a word. If Lena had to take an educated guess, presumably to acquire the Waverider—or at least _a_ Waverider. Considering the different earths across parallel universes, she’s sure there’s more than one.

“Across space and time exist seven heroes, beings of the purest will who can ultimately defeat the Anti-Monitor and help save the multiverse. They are known as Paragons,” The Monitor informs them.

“Paragons?” says Barry skeptically— “and you're just dropping this on us now?”

“I only recently learned of their existence by consulting the Book of Destiny,” Mar Novu replies. 

“How?” Barry presses, “we destroyed it last year.”

The Monitor waves his hand and the Book of Destiny materializes, a golden glow encasing it. “After I foresaw Oliver's early demise, I went back into the time stream and retrieved it intact,” he explains.

“So, it's what, plan B? That's comforting,” Barry scoffs, about as fed up with mutton-chops man as Lena.

“As the Anti-Monitor gets stronger, I grow weaker,” Mar Novu continues, ignoring Barry’s outburst. “We must find all seven Paragons.”

“How about, like, a hint?” Kate asks.

“I have four. Kara Zor-El, despite all she has endured, is the Paragon of Hope. Sara Lance is the Paragon of Destiny.”

“Oh, well, that makes sense,” the Atom opines, “captain of time travel and all that,” he says with a smile.

“I have only descriptions for the other two paragons,” The Monitor drones on. “One is of a second Kryptonian, who is said to have suffered a greater loss than most mortal men could endure. Today, he stands as the Paragon of Truth.”

“I'll find him,” Superman volunteers.

“The fourth?” asks the Atom.

“The Paragon of Courage is known only as the Bat of the future,” The Monitor replies with a glance at Kate.

“Seriously, where do you get these names and pseudo-names anyway?” she asks with a roll of her eyes.

“I enlisted the assistance of Felicity Smoak, who earned the wisdom of a second book,” is the mechanical reply.

“That's a lot of books,” Clark interjects.

“The Tome of the Guardians. It revealed the names of Ms. Zor-El and Ms. Lance, as well as the other two,” The Monitor says.

“Bummed out Kryptonian and future Bat,” Kate mocks.

“Earth-99 exists in a future time where Bruce Wayne has dedicated himself, body and soul, to fighting crime,” Mar Novu reveals as he stares at Kate.

“I'm sorry. Go back. Bruce Wayne is the Dark Knight?” the Atom asks with a delighted grin.

“If we could all keep that to ourselves, that'd be great,” Kate says with a wince and a glance at the group.

“The path to find him will lead you to the Paragon of Courage,” Mar Novu says with finality, his knowledge of the Paragons exhausted.

“Okay. Who wants to meet Batman?” Kate concedes with a smirk.

It’s decided Superman will seek out the Paragon of Truth with the Atom and Kate will seek out future Batman with Kara, once she wakes.

Before he leaves, Clark helps Lena set Kara up on the roof of the DEO in the hopes the direct sunlight will speed her healing.

“Should we bring back the evacuees from Earth 1?” Clark asks Lena.

“No,” Lena responds after some thought. “If by some chance the Anti-Monitor detonates another anti-matter wave, Earth 1 will still be the safest location for them. Although someone should probably bring back J’onn and Nia—their powers could still prove useful,” Lena adds.

“Alex too,” Superman ventures. It’s not a question, but it’s as non-confrontational as his persona allows.

“If you must,” Lena cedes the point.

“I know Alex has tunnel-vision when it comes to protecting Kara,” Clark ventures, “but she means well.”

“Yes well, the road to hell and all that,” Lena replies with a wave of her hand. “Besides, I hardly think you’re anyone to judge. You abandoned Kara as a child and then you deserted earth for Argo. You have no clue what we’ve been through. I earned the right to the truth a long time ago.”

“I know Kara certainly agrees,” Superman responds conciliatorily. “But think of the position you put her in once you turned on her. J’onn, Alex, Winn, me, and until just recently James—we kept cautioning her you’d turn on her eventually—and then you did,” he says bluntly.

“I don’t owe you any explanations, _Superman_ ,” Lena hisses. “The truth is no matter what I did, you and your band of self-righteous _heroes_ would’ve never trusted me,” she says disdainfully. “Three years—three years I spent working with all of you for the greater good, forsaking my family to stand with the Supers and in return I was lied to repeatedly and betrayed.”

“Kara trusted you and believed in you—time after time and no matter what anyone said. She trusted you with her life—”

“Just not with the truth,” Lena interjects.

“We’re not infallible Lena,” Clark responds gently. “We have these powers and people expect perfection, but we make mistakes. Costly ones—ones that hurt people we love. But she regrets it.”

“I don’t need _you_ to tell me that,” Lena says dismissively. “I will continue to fight for the greater good because that’s who _I am_ and I don’t need your approval or validation—what’s more, I don’t want it—from any of you. Kara and I have forgiven each other and we’re on the path to true reconciliation, but don’t think for a moment it extends to the rest of you. I won’t let anything stand in the way of saving the multiverse, but it won’t make us friends,” Lena declares with ironclad certainty.

“Fair enough,” Clark concedes. “But for what it’s worth—I regret whatever part I played in Kara’s continued decision to keep her secret from you.” He waits for a moment, but when Lena ignores him, he walks away without another word.

The minute he’s gone, Lena rolls her shoulders in an effort to ease some of the tension she’s been carrying around since Kara collapsed. She’ll admit, if only to herself, it was easier not knowing—she’s seen Supergirl hurt before, but she’d never felt it as viscerally. Even though intellectually she knew the hero could be gravely injured, even fatally so, she’d always taken it for granted she would recover. Yet now, everything feels raw—real in a way that scares her.

Deep down she’d known she felt more for Kara than a platonic friendship for a long time. When she’d asked her to attend the first gala years ago, she’d flirted with the idea of asking the reporter on a date—but the last thing she’d needed at the time was a messy romantic entanglement with a journalist that could derail her mission to rehabilitate the Luthor name. 

Still—she’d flirted and sent flowers and pulled Kara closer and closer until they were emotionally invested in their friendship. She’d toed the line, never quite stepping over it and then Mon-El happened, which makes a lot more sense now than it did at the time. 

Kara’d been so turned off initially by the immature man-child before her drastic about-face. Knowing she’s Supergirl though, gives it all context that eluded her at the time. Another alien from a lost planet, similar powers, a shared cultural history, someone with memories of her home—something even Superman couldn’t offer.

Then the invasion happened and the frat boy’s exile drove Kara into herself. She’d felt Kara slipping away from her and it was unbearable. So, she’d bought CatCo and when that still didn’t seem to bridge the distance between them, she’d latched onto James. She’d convinced herself she’d grown to care for him, but Kara was right when she’d said the relationship was all about her—turns out Kara and Supergirl was all they had in common. 

In retrospect, James’ self-serving revelations and insidious observations, never quite criticizing Supergirl, but always highlighting the self-righteousness of the hero under the guise of honesty and openness, effectively drove a wedge between Lena and Kara. He knew exactly what he was doing. The more James riled her up about Supergirl, the more Lena vented to Kara, the more convinced Kara became Lena hated her. 

She now believed what Kara told her at the Pulitzer party—she’d been on the verge of telling Lena the truth until they’d had the falling out over the kryptonite. Because she thought Lena hated Supergirl—and would hate her in turn if she knew. The reality was Lena _was_ angry at the time, but mostly with herself.

She’d dismissed Supergirl’s concerns about kryptonite callously because she didn’t want to admit she’d made a mistake. Not in synthesizing it, but in not doing it openly. Once she’d been honest with Supergirl, they’d fought, but just like with the alien detection device, Kara came to understand her point of view. Lena always understood why kryptonite was personal—empty a magazine into a crowded room and anyone hit with a bullet could be hurt—release kryptonite gas and only Clark or Kara suffered. She’d simply belittled the hero’s concerns so she didn’t have to face the duplicity of her own actions.

She remembers being in the Dark Valley and telling Supergirl she could get on board with her keeping secrets and it was true—for Supergirl. But finding out Kara kept such a monumental part of herself from Lena left her broken and bereft in a way no betrayal ever had—because she loved her. She loved Kara beyond all reason and when Lex so callously revealed her alter ego, Lena lost her mind.

Despite the progress they’d made, Lena knew building a future with her godling would prove challenging. Of necessity she’d habituated herself to secrecy at an early age and skepticism became her currency. But she knew, if she and Kara were to build a life together, the hero would need to be the exception to Lena’s every rule. Watching over Kara as she held her hand, she made a promise to herself and her unconscious lover—trust and truth in all things, come what may.

Lena forced herself to sit in the stool Clark brought up when they relocated Kara to the roof and tried to practice the mindful meditation she’d learned through her years of yoga. She closed her eyes and focused her awareness, counting her outbreaths, but before she achieved any meaningful state the door to the roof clanged open and she knew who’d she’d find before opening her eyes.

Alex stalked over, her eyes immediately moving in quick perusal over Kara’s body. Lena sighed internally as she stood to give Alex a moment alone as she examined her sister. She walks over to the railing at the edge of the roof and activates her suit as she gazes out at the city—she doesn’t think Alex will attack her, but better safe than sorry.

She hears Alex approach but simply waits, keeping her eyes on the clear skies as the agent comes to a standstill next to her. After a moment Alex takes a deep breath— “Nice suit,” she comments flatly.

“Before you snark about kryptonite canons or lexosuits or whatever disparaging crack you’re about to make—Kara gave me the suit,” Lena informs her impassively. “She worked on it with Brainy and the Atom gave it an upgrade.”

Alex purses her lips but doesn’t comment on the suit further. 

“Harbinger commandeered a Waverider and brought me and J’onn back, along with Cat Grant who refused to be left behind,” Alex finally says.

“That sounds like Cat—I’m sure she’s drafting the next breaking news update as we speak.”

“Actually, she started drafting it as soon as we made it to Earth 1. She’s already on her way to CatCo to oversee the broadcast,” Alex smirks.

“Lena,” Kara rasps and both women turn to see Kara in the process of sitting up.

Alex steps in front of Lena in her haste to get to Kara and the blonde frowns as she reaches for Lena’s hand. Lena walks around the other side, helping Kara sit up. “Take it slow,” Lena advises, “you solar-flared,” she says as she wraps her arm around her lover’s back.

“Where is everyone? What did the Monitor say? Is the multiverse safe?” Kara asks rapid-fire as she checks her powers. She feels fine, which is not unusual, although she’s starving—also not unusual.

Lena explains and, in the process, they bring Alex up to speed. “I knew you’d think of something,” Kara enthuses with a proud smile.

“It was a group effort,” Lena demurs, but she’s wearing a small proud grin of her own.

“If you two are done with your mutual admiration society meeting…” Alex says gruffly.

Lena rolls her eyes, but otherwise ignores the older Danvers. Kara looks at her sister with pursed lips as she climbs off the stretcher and links hands with Lena. “I need food and we need to regroup so we can set out to find the Paragons,” Kara says authoritatively as she gestures for Lena to precede her through the stairwell door.

They find the others in the mess hall and Kara’s eyes light up at the sight of the boxes of Stilton pizza scattered on the tables. She opens a box and breathes in the smell of her favorite Hawaiian pie. She serves Lena a couple of slices on a plate, then hoards the rest of the box for herself as they sit with the others to eat.

“How was the nap?” Kate jokes as she sits down across from them.

“Too short,” Kara says with her mouth full. Lena shakes her head affectionately as Kara drips sauce on her suit and passes her godling a napkin.

“When you’re done, The Monitor and Harbinger are waiting on the Waverider—we all opted to wait for you here, since we didn’t trust he wouldn’t just take off with us and leave you behind,” Kate says.

* * *

The Waverider appears more Millennium Falcon on the outside, but surprisingly high-tech modern luxury on the inside. “Welcome to the Waverider of Earth 74,” a balding hulk of a man, looking a little rough around the edges, greets them. “My name’s Mick Rory—stay away from my beer and we’ll get along just fine,” he adds with an impish grin.

Kara and Lena wander off from the others as they explore the ship. “I’m surprised you left Alex behind on earth,” Lena segues as they enter the bridge.

“Cat told me once in order to live we need to keep daring, keep diving,” Kara replies in what seems like a non-sequitur and Lena looks at her quizzically. “She said the journey would be hard, but when I reached the other side, I’d be a new person,” Kara continues reminiscing with a fond smile. 

“I feel like the last year has been the hardest of my life,” she says with a sigh, “including the time I spent in the phantom zone. But I’ve emerged a new person—the person I was destined to be, I think,” she shrugs. “I love Alex but she’s never met Kara Zor-El and I can’t afford the distraction her doubts and questions would cause. She’s also your staunchest critic and I need the team to trust you,” she says frankly. “That would be made more difficult with Alex whispering from the shadows, sowing dissension.”

Lena stares pensively out at deep space and finds an uncanny pair of glowing eyes glaring back menacingly from what resembles the face of an otherworldly creature. It takes her a second before it dawns on her she’s staring at a titanic head-on collision between two galaxies—whether preexisting or the result of the anti-matter wave, she’s unsure. Each eye is the bright core of a galaxy, and the outline of the face is a ring of young blue stars. Other clumps of new stars form a nose and mouth. As someone with more than a passing interest in space, especially now, she takes a moment to marvel at the beauty of such cosmic destruction before responding to Kara’s words.

“I made a promise while you were unconscious,” Lena says, still staring out into the cosmos, “to you and to myself, to speak only the truth between us from now on—so I can’t disagree. But I also understand better than most the pull of family. Just know I will never make you choose,” she says as she turns to face Kara.

“Thank you, my love,” Kara says softly. 

The tender moment ends abruptly as the door to the bridge slides open and they hear a voice from beyond the grave. “An entire multiverse on the brink of extinction distilled down to a computer graphic,” Lex says as Lena and Kara turn and find him standing next to The Monitor observing the on-screen display. “Got to say, missing that wow factor,” he deadpans as he looks up at them.

“You’re like the cockroach of supervillains!” Lena exclaims, horrified.

“Lena killed you,” Kara blurts, unable to mask her shock.

“Yeah, but only for a little while,” he says with a cocky wink and a click of his tongue.

Kara’s heat vision flares but The Monitor steps between her and Lex. 

“Everyone has a part to play, even Lex Luthor,” The Monitor pontificates, patently unconcerned with the history of the murderous psychopath he’s resurrected.

“You did this? You brought that poisonous snake back?” Kara questions in outrage as Lex smirks from his protected spot behind Mar Novu.

“His destiny was unfulfilled,” Mar Novu replies stoically, as if Kara’s overreacting. 

“That’s probably a good thing,” Lena snaps, “considering his destiny seems to be irreparably entwined with mass scale genocide and a vendetta against Superman that puts Hitler to shame.”

“Lex Luthor still has an important role to play,” the obstinate cosmic being insists.

“What about those innocent lives on Earth 2? Did they not have destinies to fulfill? You can revive him, but not save them?” Kara probes pointedly.

“I restored Luthor long before the crisis caused my power to wane,” he says without any indication of remorse.

“I'm sorry, but I can't trust anyone who thinks Lex Luthor is an ally,” Kara declares as Kate walks onto the bridge from where she’d been standing by the door.

“All I got from that is that if you die again that dude can't bring you back,” she remarks as she invades Lex’s personal space.

“And you are?” he asks with a dismissive glance.

“New and _unfriendly_ ,” she replies with a glare and an irreverent flick of his chin with her finger.

Kate walks over and stands by Kara who’s gearing up for the continuation of her argument with The Monitor, whose turned his back on them as if his was the only opinion that mattered. Before anyone says anything though, a loud thud reverberates through the room.

They turn towards Lex only to find him on the floor with Lena standing over him, her suit activated and her right hand coming to rest at her side as if she’d just shot him. Kara raises an eyebrow in question and Kate smirks, while The Monitor’s stony expression finally reveals a hint of exasperation.

“He’s not dead,” Lena says with a shrug as she kneels next to her brother. “I injected him with a paralytic agent,” she explains as she searches Lex’s suit pockets. “It mimics the symptoms of anesthesia awareness,” she says with a smug smile as she looks into her brother’s eyes. “He’s fully awake and able to feel pain, but immobilized and unable to bore us with his delusions of grandeur,” she adds, as she pats his cheek almost affectionately, but the slap sounds a little too sharp in the quiet room to have been completely painless.

“Ah, what have we here,” she announces triumphantly as she pulls a folded page out of his inner pocket and stands up. “A page from the Book of Destiny—with just a minor alteration. It seems he intended to replace your Paragon of Truth—instead of Superman, we’d end up facing the annihilation of the multiverse with Megalomania Man,” Lena remarks snidely as she passes the page to Kara and confronts The Monitor.

“Whatever you think you know about _that_ _man_ ,” she bites out as she points derisively at her older brother, “you’d be mistaken. The only thing you can count on with _any_ degree of certainty is he’d sacrifice anything and everything—sentient being, reality, and/or multiverse—on the altar of his obsession to be emperor of all existence and to kill Superman,” she says, crossing her arms as the rest of the heroes file onto the bridge.

Superman leads the group looking shocked and angry, clearly having heard the entire conversation. He picks Lex up roughly and slings him over his shoulder. “I’m going to imprison him on Earth 38,” he declares with barely contained fury— “and there will be nowhere in the multiverse for you to hide if you release him again!” he says with finality as he stomps off, Lex dangling limply across his back.

With one final scowl at The Monitor, Lena follows Kara out of the room. They stalk the corridors together, both women fuming and needing the physical exertion to bleed out their combined rage. Kate finds them a short time later in the galley—she’s beginning to discern a pattern regarding Kara and her relationship to food.

“Lex Luthor—kind of a dick, huh?” she opines brusquely. “No offense,” she adds as she glances at Lena, who only scoffs in response.

“When I think of Argo and all those people on Earth 2, it just feels unfair,” Kara laments.

“Look. A day ago, I didn't think my life could get any worse. My sister murdered my stepmom and framed my dad for it,” Kate shares matter-of-factly.

“That’s dark, even for Gotham,” Lena interjects.

“I'm fighting for a chance to make it right, and this fourth Paragon, my cousin Bruce on another Earth, finding him might help me get that chance,” Kate says.

“Only if you believe The Monitor,” Kara replies dubiously.

“What kind of talk is that from the Paragon of Hope?” Kate asks as she unzips her pocket and pulls out an interdimensional extrapolator. “Come with me. Let's go save the universe,” she pitches with a small grin.

“You with me?” Kara asks unnecessarily as she turns to Lena.

“Always,” Lena responds automatically with her trademark smirk.

* * *

They step through the breach onto Earth 99 and find themselves in front of a decrepit manor in the middle of the night.

“So, the Paragon of Courage is apparently afraid of yardwork,” Kara quips with a hint of disgust.

“Better let me do the talking,” Kate decides as they approach the front door. She knocks and a moment later it’s opened by a young black man wearing jeans and a button-down shirt hanging open.

“Wow. That's a really impressive six-pack,” Kate says wryly.

“I’m sorry, do I know you?” he asks.

“Oh. No,” she stammers. “No, but I know you. Well, a different like— a _less_ this version of you. I, I'm Kate Kane. I'm Bruce's cousin,” she finally manages to get out.

“Yeah, no,” he says as he closes the door on them.

“Earth 1 villain?” Kara asks with a frown,

“Only friend, actually,” Kate rebuts.

“Oh,” Kara mutters with a glance at a smirking Lena.

Kate knocks again but when no one comes to the door after a minute, Kara kicks it down. Lena rolls her eyes and activates her suit as she follows them inside.

They’re greeted by the same young man, only now he’s pointing a gun at them. His hands are rock steady and it’s apparent he knows how to use it. He cocks it. “You need to leave,” he asserts loudly. “Now.”

“Don’t be so rude, Luke,” a raspy male voice rings out behind him.

The hiss and whine of some type of hydraulic heralds his emergence into the hallway.

“You'll have to forgive him,” he says, as the full-body brace he wears whirrs with the fits and starts of each step. “We're not used to having guests. Kate?” he whispers almost inaudibly when he finally gets a look at them.

“ _Bruce_?” Kate wonders out loud as she squints with a slight shake of her head, not quite believing the broken man standing before her is Bruce Wayne—Batman. She shoots Lena and Kara a concerned glance.

He escorts them into a room off the hallway—maybe his study or an office.

“Well, the Bruce I knew wore a different kind of suit,” Kate says in an effort to start the conversation.

“Lifetime of injuries,” he replies, unconcernedly, “but you've aged well for a dead girl.”

“I died?”

“Five years ago.”

“Huh. Never been a ghost before.”

“Hmm. Plenty of ghosts in this place, but you're not one of them, so who the hell are you?”

“Can you, uh, can you sit in that thing? Because you're going to need to for this,” Kate sighs and starts explaining, while Lena and Kara hang back. 

Lena glances apprehensively at Kara as they listen—there’s something _off_ about this guy. Sure, Batman from their earth is dark, but he’s practically a cheerleader compared to the man before them.

“Paragon of Courage?” He scoffs and laughs derisively. “You're a few years too late,” he says as he hands Kate a folded newspaper from the desk. She opens and gapes at the headline— ‘Batman’s Reign Of Terror Over.’

" _Reign of terror_?" she questions dazedly.

Bruce nods his head with a sick smile. “It's like a wise man once said, battle not with monsters lest you become one too. I've lost track of how many people I've killed,” he says with a distinct lack of concern.

“The Bruce I knew had a code,” Kate says as she struggles to make sense of this man in her beloved cousin’s body, but yet so unfamiliar.

“You start with a code, you hang onto it with every self-righteous breath,” he rants tightly, “but then you take one life, then another, then another, then another. You'll see. My Kate—” he says, voice breaking with emotion for the first time. “My Kate put on the cape. Thought she'd succeed where I failed. All she did was get herself killed,” he snaps.

“Well, I'm not her,” Kate says with determination.

“And I'm not an old man held together with wire and metal,” he mocks.

“Fine. You're a broken, pissed off, old hermit waiting to die in this 11-bedroom, 7-bath coffin,” she snarks as she gestures around them. “But apparently, you're needed,” she informs him as she slams the newspaper down. “I am giving you the chance to be a hero again and not just to Gotham. The whole damn universe,” she says, her eyes burning brightly.

Lena’s been studying the room, which is ringed with shelves of books and trophy cases. She looks up in revulsion when she realizes they’re trophies from battles fought, and presumably won, by this earth’s Batman. She tugs on Kara’s sleeve as she gestures with her head to one of the items. Glasses. Just like Superman wears.

Kara wrests her eyes from the sight and rounds on Kate and Bruce, interrupting their conversation abruptly. “Did these belong to this earth’s Superman?” Kara’s strident voice rings out as she waves the glasses around.

“Who do you think put me in this exoskeleton?” Bruce responds flatly. “Big mistake, though,” he adds smugly.

Lena grips Kara’s hand subtly but tightly and whispers under her breath. “Kara, stop. He doesn’t know who you are—let’s not tip our hand just yet,” she advises in an urgent whisper. Bruce seems unconcerned as he turns and pushes a button near the desk. A hidden panel slides open, revealing an elevator. With just a second of hesitation, Kara and Lena follow him and Kate inside.

The elevator gears grind loudly as they descend and Lena guesses the need for secrecy died long ago. They emerge into a dusty cave and she spots an outdated computer system near racks of dusty components.

“See for yourself. I can barely walk, let alone wear that again,” Bruce says as he points out the infamous Bat suit, now hanging impotently on a mannequin.

“Do you understand how many people, how many worlds are going to die?” Kate asks incredulously.

“Well, if they're anything like this world, maybe that's for the best,” he replies unemotionally.

“How can you even say that?” Kate asks, backing away from him in dismay.

“There was no hope for this world,” he scoffs.

“That's because you killed Superman!” Kara shouts—no longer being able to listen to the ramblings of the criminal in front of them as she snatches her glasses off, her suit materializing instantly. “This guy's not a Paragon of anything. I was right. We can't trust The Monitor,” Kara says as Lena too prepares for a fight.

“What did you do?” Kate asks, as the full scope of this Batman’s crimes become apparent.

“Clearly what you couldn't.”

“How was he a threat?” Kate questions disbelievingly.

“Strange visitor from another planet comes to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men? Clark,” he spits as he clunks towards Kara. “Clark always said yes to anyone with a badge or a flag,” he jeers. “He gave them too much power. My parents taught me a very different lesson—life only makes sense if you force it to,” he thunders as he punches Kara and green light pulses from his suit.

Kate rushes to Kara as Lena immediately shifts to block Bruce’s advance. She activates her HUD display and deploys a kryptonite shield, glancing only briefly at Kara as emerald snakes slither just under her skin.

“A little souvenir from the old hometown,” Bruce gloats as he turns a dial on his exoskeleton and the kryptonite glow intensifies.

Kate helps Kara stand and they back away as Kara slowly recovers. Lena keeps the shield up even after Bruce deactivates the kryptonite emitter.

“The Kate I knew didn't trust anyone, let alone a Kryptonian,” he says disappointedly. 

“I don't know what happened to you, Bruce, but it ends now,” Kate warns him.

“Yes. Let it end. Let it all end. This world's not worth saving in any universe,” he taunts them madly.

“If you really think that, you're going to have to kill one more person. Me,” Kate says as she strides towards him boldly. 

“Don't be a fool,” he cries as he charges at Kara. But Kate’s too quick and she delivers a roundhouse kick that slams him against the generator running quietly behind him. The exoskeleton serves as a conduit for the electricity and the current ravages his body as they watch in horror. 

Kate lunges for him, but Lena grabs her forcefully, holding her back. “Don't! It'll kill you!” 

“Kate, listen to me,” he slurs with his dying breath, “there is no hope…”

* * *

They return to the Waverider and learn Superman successfully located the Paragon of Truth on Earth 96, who looks eerily like the Atom from Earth 1. “There’s an earth where I gave up my powers,” her cousin reveals wistfully, “and Lois and I live in Smallville with our kids.” Even Lena feels a pang of empathy for the longing written so clearly on his face.

“Good thing we incapacitated Lex then,” Lena tells him. “The page from the Book of Destiny I found on him indicated he planned on finding and killing the other Supermans after he’d suffused himself with cosmic superpowers.”

“Well, we still only have three,” Kara says. “Bruce Wayne wasn't the Paragon of anything,” she says with a sigh.

“Yeah,” Kate adds, “he tried to kill Kara, and now he's dead, so we're doomed.”

“We shall see,” The Monitor replies haughtily. “I believe Dr. Palmer's work is now finished.”

“At least I think it is,” Ray says with a smile as he looks around the group. “I've never actually built a Paragon detector before,” he explains as he indicates to the machine he built. “Uh, okay. This will be the trial run to find the final three paragons. Everyone might want to take a step back,” he says cautiously as he activates the machine and the display comes to life.

His Superman twin stands next to him and after a second, points at the display, which shows an earth with a beacon of light hovering over it. “Which Earth is that?”

“None of them. That's us, this ship. Apparently, there are still a few bugs,” he says with disappointment.

“Your machine works just fine,” The Monitor assures them. “That light is the Paragon of Courage.”

“Yeah. Well, Bruce's body isn't on the ship, so—” Kate starts to say, but The Monitor interrupts her.

“No, but you are. I said the path to Earth 99 would lead you to the Paragon, and that has come to pass. You are the Bat of the future, Kate Kane. You are the Paragon of Courage,” he assures her with an almost smile as she stares as him disbelievingly. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING, RANT AHEAD:
> 
> The more I think about the flashback scene in Confidence Women (S05E06) where Kara mentions how she heard Lena when she said she wasn’t looking to connect with someone (implying they’re not friends yet) and Lena ends up asking Kara to join her, the more it gnaws at me. (Kara’d saved Lena in S02E01 before Cat Grant even leaves NC.) According to the news report playing on the TV behind them, Cat Grant’s been gone a month. She left in S02E02 and by S02E05 Lena invites Kara to the gala as her ‘only friend in NC’—so when exactly was this flashback scene in S05E06 supposed to have taken place? 
> 
> At some point during S02E03 or S02E04? Except S02E03 was the one with the alien detection device—it may make sense that they weren’t friends when Kara interviews Lena and she reveals her new invention, but by the end of the episode Lena seems pretty friendly when Kara’s article turns out to be fairly positive. 
> 
> S02E04 is the one where Lena gives her Roulette’s fight club location and unlimited access to her office, so it seems pretty clear by then Lena trusts her somewhat. BUT there’s that earlier flashback clip in S05E06 where Lena’s reading the article on the alien fight club and Kara gives her the emails hacked from L-Corp and Lena tells her she’s not looking to be friends.
> 
> But by S02E05 they’re friends! So, the flashback scene in S05E06 where they run into each other at the restaurant had to take place after S02E04 but BEFORE S02E05! It’s just TOO FORCED. As season two played out, Lena and Kara became friends very quickly-within four episodes. But you want us to believe there was all this drama where Lena acts like a high schooler with her first crush-I don’t want friends, I’m not looking for friends, oh but you’re my only friend. 
> 
> Give me a f*cking break—she’s just on the back-end of her betrayal by Andrea when she meets Kara and she just left Jack pretty easily, even telling him she’s not asking him to come with her (again really inconsistent with the scene in S02E18 where she tells Jack he made it hard on her when ‘it wasn’t like she wanted to leave’) but she changes her mind about Kara in the blink of the proverbial eye? 
> 
> I’d MAYBE buy it if she was attracted to Kara—but otherwise, the Lena from the flashbacks just doesn’t mesh with the eager to please, desperate to be liked, Lena we saw develop in real time during season 2.
> 
> *stomps off muttering about lack of continuity and the lazy writers at the CW 
> 
> Oh, and seriously, what’s with The Monitor’s blasé attitude about Lex killing Supermans across the multiverse? He claims Lex led them to the Paragon of Truth, except of the three earths they visit, one of them he’s already been and gone by the time they arrive (and Superman’s dead) and the other two, Lex arrives AFTER them. There was no indication at ANY point that they were tracking Lex through the multiverse! 
> 
> FYI, the description I used of the clashing galaxies is based on real life. See the galactic system, Arp-Madore 2026-424 @ https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_feature/public/thumbnails/image/stsci-h-p1951a-f-1631x1767.png


	5. The Dawn of Time (Revisted)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “In a few moments, Cisco will vibe us to the dawn of the time where we expect the Anti-Monitor will be waiting to try and finish what he started and finalize his destruction of worlds,” she intones gravely. “Make no mistake. He is the apocalypse itself given life and form and terrible purpose. We will be fighting annihilation. But I have hope we will prevail. Because there is no other option,” she avows resolutely as she looks at each of them in turn, imbuing them all with the strength of her conviction in their ultimate victory.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize this chapter took much longer to put out than I intended. But I wrote it initially to be more consistent with the way the Crisis played out in the crossover, but I hated how it turned out. Then I remembered I started writing this story _because _the crossover pissed me off, so I rewrote it. Hence the delay. On the plus side, there's one more chapter which will be posted sometime tomorrow, finally concluding my version of the Crisis on Infinite Earths. An epilogue of sorts, which I assure you will not include an earth led by Lex.__
> 
> _  
> _Thank you for your patience and for your incredible feedback and comments!_  
>  _
> 
> _  
> _A couple of notes I forgot to include with previous chapters:_  
>  _
> 
> _  
> _I went back to chapter two and added a paragraph where Lena shoots Superman in the ass with yellow sun radiation. No big deal, but a bit humorous if you’re interested._  
>  _
> 
> _  
> _Anesthesia awareness is a real thing. It’s the unintentional consciousness or awareness of events happening during an operation either with, or without, pain sensations._  
>  _
> 
> _  
> _Mini-Rant(s):_  
>  _
> 
> _  
> _If the Book of Destiny was in the Waverider’s library, why didn’t any of the heroes think to read it for more information about the ongoing crisis? Other than Kara being tempted to use it to restore Earth 38, they just ignore it and accept The Monitor’s assessments as to what it contains and how to alter the future. Come on Kara! You could’ve read it without using it necessarily!_  
>  _
> 
> _  
> _I like Oliver’s character and the idea of him as the Specter was innovative, but I found the entire subplot of them getting lost in the Speed Force and then finding each other, convoluted and boring. It seemed like just an excuse to throw in some more characters from other earths, which was one of the main things I HATED about the crisis crossover. Too MANY friggin’ characters popping up all over the place with little purpose and even less reason!_  
>  _
> 
> _  
> _I hate what they’ve done to Kara’s hair this season—and Lena’s too. It’s like they’ve recruited a Victorian era stylist reject. Send them back!_  
>  _
> 
> _  
> _Also, so much time was spent teasing about the Paragons, that their use at the dawn of time was anti-climactic. The writers failed to find a visual representation of what they actually brought to the end fight that distinguished them from any other hero they could’ve chosen. The dialogue was also cringe worthy and left me actually wincing. I couldn’t decide which was worse: ‘My team and I usually mess things up for the better!’ OR ‘Focus! We're in the fight of our lives here.’_  
>  _
> 
> _  
> _So, they fought and then they ‘focused’ their—thoughts? Will? Energy? Pfft. Lame. Truly. I mean they could’ve given them a talisman or something at least. Equally cringe-worthy was the ‘for Oliver’ they shouted when they actually defeat the Anti-Monitor. I think it would’ve worked better if they whispered it to themselves like a prayer or a mantra or something._  
>  _

They all stand on the bridge of the Waverider trying to pretend they’re not waiting for Ray to repair the paragon detector so they can search out the other Paragons and figure out how to defeat the Anti-Monitor permanently.

“We have only located four of the seven Paragons needed to save the multiverse,” The Monitor says gruffly, as Lena rolls her eyes. Captain Obvious indeed.

“We could find the last three if—” Kate says as she cocks her head towards Ray and clears her throat.

“Hey, it's uh repairing a paragon detector, okay? It's complex stuff,” Ray defends himself.

“Someone call for backup?” Cisco Ramon quips as he steps through a breach onto the bridge.

“Cisco, thank goodness,” Ray exclaims. “I need another genius intellect, stat.” 

Lena scowls, knowing she’s certainly in their league if not beyond, but keeps her mouth shut. Brainy looks equally insulted, since he considers himself the smartest person in the room. 

“That's why I'm here—and that is a super doppelganger,” Cisco adds, pointing at the Paragon of Truth and glancing towards Ray, “which is super weird.” He shakes off the surrealness of the moment as Ray hands him an l-Pad and he studies the schematics for the paragon detector.

“Hey, I think we did it. I think we fixed it,” Ray exclaims a few minutes later, looking at Cisco. The genius engineer looks up in confusion, since he’s still studying the schematics. 

Brainy clears his throat and everyone turns to look at him, most of them confused—but Lena and Kara smirk knowingly. “The electromagnetic pathways to the quantum clutch assembly needed optimization. It took a nanosecond to fine-tune,” he points out haughtily. 

They all gather around the detector as pictures of the known Paragons populate the screen. 

“Guys, we already know all this,” Kate says impatiently with a shake of her head.

“It's buffering, so maybe a little patience,” Cisco says with a huff.

The next picture depicts J’onn J’onzz with the title of Honor. “Huh,” Kara grunts as she glances at Lena, “why am I not surprised?”

Barry’s picture appears next as apparently, he’s the Paragon of Love. “That's new,” he comments with a scrunch of his eyebrows.

No one’s more stunned than Lena when the picture of the last paragon appears. Luckily, Lena’s been conditioned to expect the unexpected, so her face remains impassive, while inside she wonders if Brainy tampered with the detector. Either way, she’d pit her will and skills against some random human any day.

Kara grins widely. “Also, not a surprise,” she asserts as she stares down J’onn and her cousin in turn, implicitly warning them against disagreeing. “Lena’s our Paragon of Humanity,” she announces confidently—her inherent endorsement setting the tone for the others’ reactions, which range from quiet acceptance to friendly camaraderie. 

The Monitor approaches Cisco as he studies Ray’s invention. “You are not a Paragon, but you do have a purpose. Vibe must live again,” he informs Cisco.

“No,” Cisco hisses. “No, my powers are gone and there's a reason for that,” he disagrees vehemently.

“You must answer the call whether you wish to or not,” The Monitor replies simply.

“Okay, maybe you didn't hear me under those voluminous mutton chops of yours,” the reluctant hero jeers. But The Monitor just waves his hand casually, transforming the protesting man into his Vibe alter ego, suit and all. 

“Now, serve your higher purpose,” the cosmic being instructs nonchalantly as he strides away.

Cisco’s mouth hangs open as he senses his dimensional awareness snap into place like an old flame. He pats first his reverb glasses and then his gauntlets incredulously. Sure enough, he’s now wearing his Vibe suit. He glances around self-consciously but no one’s paying him any attention. He makes a mental note to discuss a human’s inherent right to self-determination with The Monitor when the crisis ends—assuming both of them survive.

On the other side of the bridge, Oliver signals for Lena and Brainy to follow him, which they do after a brief glance at Kara, who shrugs. She’s sure whatever Oliver needs them for will prove important. She briefly wonders what Oliver’s planning as she watches Barry and Sara join them.

* * *

A short time later, The Monitor summons them all to the bridge again. “With all the Paragons identified, our next priority is determining how to stop the Anti-Monitor,” he announces like that’s not what he _just_ interrupted. “But another problem has presented itself. Harbinger is missing and she could very well be with him, which means there are now infinite possibilities for her location.”

“The Anti-Monitor is that, uh, set in stone, or can we workshop that a little bit?” Cisco inquires, only half-kidding.

“This is why I have been preparing all of you, testing and pushing you to your limits,” The Monitor continues, paying no attention to Cisco. “I needed your courage, your honor, your strength of will, even the truth of your convictions—everything that makes you the greatest heroes on this earth or any other, because that's what it will take to defeat our opponent.”

“And what exactly does this guy want?” Kate asks.

“To eliminate the multiverse and replace it with another universe,” The Monitor responds impassively. 

“One that he can control, just like every other megalomaniac,” Kara throws in, thinking of Lex.

“I should've foreseen my connection with Harbinger could be perverted to his ends.”

“Should have?” Lena scoffs. “Just tell us how to get her back.”

“I want to find her just as much as the rest of you, but I cannot rewrite what has already been written. I can only attempt to save what remains.”

“In other words, you’ve got nothing,” Lena says pointedly. “Except taking the cryptic conversation trope to ludicrous lengths,” she declares with an eyeroll as she shakes her head. “You keep reminding us you can’t change the past and your foresight’s been _less_ than underwhelming. Yet you persist in manipulating us around an invisible chessboard like mindless automatons. All you’re doing is limiting the probabilities of success to the potentialities occurring to _you_ —as opposed to the exponential possibilities of our combined geniuses,” Lena points out exasperatedly.

“She’s right,” Brainy interjects. “We’ve a 37% increased likelihood of saving the multiverse if we apply our combined intellect with full awareness of all known aspects of the crisis.” The Monitor simply stares at them stoically.

“Why don’t you come back when you’ve actually something useful to contribute?” Lena finally says dismissively, her frustration with Mar Novu’s obstinacy and arrogance obvious.

Instead of answering The Monitor disappears, while Kate and Kara smirk.

Kara walks over and grabs Lena by the hand tugging her firmly against her body. “It’s so hot—the way you refuse to cower, even in the face of a cosmic being,” she whispers fiercely. Lena flushes with equal parts pleasure at the praise and arousal at the look of desire in her godling’s dilated pupils.

“Attention,” the AI interface announces, “Pariah has returned.”

Kara practically growls at the interruption and Lena exhales in frustration as they turn to see Pariah enter the bridge. A second later The Monitor reappears.

Kara steps to the center of the room. “Now that we’ve found all the Paragons, we need to locate Harbinger,” Kara announces, mostly for Pariah’s benefit. 

“So how do we find her?” Barry asks. 

“By whatever means necessary,” Kara replies as she turns to Lena.

“Well, we can start by trying to re-task the Waverider's satellite search grid,” Lena suggests just as there’s another abrupt flare of bright white and Harbinger appears.

“Where were you?” Kara asks warily, as everyone’s eyes turn to Harbinger.

“I—I can’t remember,” she finally stammers. “I know I was doing recon on Earth 1.”

Barry, Ray, and Pariah exchange glances as Oliver joins them. “I just wish I could remember what happened,” Harbinger mutters, looking confused.

“What if the Anti-Monitor wanted Harbinger back on the ship?” Barry whispers so only his small group hears. “He's been controlling her the entire Crisis.”

“And controlling you,” Ray muses as he looks at Pariah, “only allowing you to appear when he wants you to see a great tragedy.”

“Lyla” Oliver calls out as Harbinger’s eyes roll white and she lashes out at Kate, who was closest, with a strike to her shoulder joint. She flips her with a twist and flings her across the room.

“It is time to end the age of heroes and everything you hold close,” Lyla booms in an echoing voice reminiscent of The Monitor, as she struts across the bridge.

Kara steps inconspicuously in front of Lena and signals her to back up towards the door before taking an aggressive step towards the possessed Harbinger. On the imposter’s other side, Oliver does the same as Barry uses the speed force to disappear ahead of Lena. 

“Lyla,” Oliver tries again, distracting the masquerading being as Lena slips off the bridge.

“That is no longer Lyla Michaels,” The Monitor intones. “She has been taken by the Anti-Monitor.”

Ray lunges, but Harbinger easily side-steps him, shoving him off balance and he slides across the floor. Before any of the others can make a move, Harbinger closes her hand in a fist and they all fall unconscious, except Pariah and The Monitor.

“The fate of all humanity lies with you now, Pariah,” The Monitor declares calmly.

“What can I do?”

“You will know when the moment arrives,” The Monitor assures him as he cups his hands and a beam of golden energy shoots out and catches Harbinger in the chest.

She barely twitches as she activates her own blue-glowing beam and steadily overpowers The Monitor’s. “Pathetic,” she hisses. “It was foolish to try to stop me, Novu.” 

“No, Mobius. It was foolish to allow your creation in the first place.”

“Goodbye,” Harbinger rumbles darkly, as her energy snuffs out the weakened cosmic being’s. As the beams die out, she pulls her hands back slowly, drawing The Monitor’s energy into her body.

“Alert,” The AI interface bleats, as everyone regains consciousness. 

“It is done,” Harbinger boasts, in the eerily masculine voice. “Soon only the anti-matter universe will remain.”

“Warning,” the AI again squawks. “An anti-matter wave will hit the ship in 28 seconds.”

“I know what I must do,” Pariah whispers. But before he acts, a blur sweeps everyone except himself and Harbinger off the bridge. 

“Where did you send them?” She demands.

“Somewhere you can't touch them,” Pariah replies calmly, choosing to hide the fact someone else intervened. “They're going to fight you—by any means necessary and to their very last breath,” he promises as the anti-matter wave swallows the ship.

* * *

“What the hell just happened?” Kate asks urgently as they materialize inside some type of derelict stronghold.

“Where are we?” Kara asks Lena, suspecting their unscheduled trip relates to whatever she was working on with Oliver. She looks around and notes only the Paragons made it—but then immediately realizes Barry’s missing. She wonders if Pariah, Harbinger and The Monitor still exist or whether they were wiped out with the others.

“This is the Vanishing Point,” Sarah realizes.

“What does that mean?” Kate asks.

“It's a metaphysical dimension that lies outside the normal space/time continuum. It exists during the last possible moment in the universe, the last nanosecond before entropy ends everything. We’re inside the floating fortress,” she realizes.

“What happened to the Waverider and the others?” J’onn asks since he hadn’t made it to the bridge before Barry swept him up.

“The Anti-Monitor. He used Harbinger to attack us,” the Truth Paragon explains.

“Sara’s right,” Lena steps up. “Oliver and I decided we needed a contingency plan in case The Monitor couldn’t be trusted. When we regained consciousness, Barry used the Speed Force to gather us and Cisco opened a breach, vibing us here. It’s the one place the Anti-Monitor can’t follow.”

“Well, we have to go back,” J’onn declares. “We have to go back right now!”

“J’onn, we can't,” Kara says with finality. “They're gone.”

“They’re not gone,” Lena corrects as a blur whooshes past them, manifesting into a tumbling group of people. Barry recovers first as the Paragons help Oliver, Cisco, and Brainy to their feet.

Lena looks to Oliver, who nods reassuringly. “Barry left Superman and the others on Earth 1 in case there’s an attack there. But we need to find and defeat the Anti-Monitor quickly in case he sends another antimatter wave their way. They’re going to try and fortify a position around Earth 1’s quantum towers, but if another army of ghouls show up, they may not have enough firepower to hold them off.”

“Wait—how did you know,” J’onn starts, but Oliver cuts him off.

“The Book of Destiny. The Monitor stored it in the Waverider’s library. We used it to gather some intel.”

“Kara was right to distrust The Monitor,” Lena adds. “Almost ten millennia ago, Mar Novu was a scientist and he attempted to travel to the birth of the universe, but instead opened a breach to the anti-matter universe.”

“So, The Monitor gave us the Anti-Monitor,” Kate surmises.

“Correct,” Oliver replies simply. “He was from a planet called Maltus and he and his wife, Xneen, were using time travel to peer into the creation of their universe. During his trip, he tore a hole in the space-time continuum and opened a doorway into the anti-matter universe, giving entry to Mobius, his antimatter doppelganger. As a result, he was exposed to chronal radiation in the temporal zone, which is how he gained his cosmic powers.”

“So basically, he was your garden variety narcissist with unchecked ambition,” Lena concludes. 

“Can’t we use the Book of Destiny and go back in time to prevent Mar Novu from ever making his trip?” Kate asks.

“We could try—but within the tapestry of the multiverse, there will always be at least one Mar Novu who cannot turn from his towering ambition, and in that inevitability, there is destiny. It would be an exercise in futility,” Sara posits. 

“Besides, so much happened across the multiverse over the course of millennia as a result, who knows what other changes we’d inevitably bring about by trying to alter the course of history now,” Sara adds. “We’d be more likely to cause aberrations or even a time quake—we ourselves could become anachronisms threatening the flow of time.”

“Sounds like there’s a story there,” Kate comments.

“Several—long ones,” Sara agrees.

“If everything went according to our hastily cobbled together plan,” Oliver interjects, refocusing on their current problems, “Pariah’s currently on Earth 1, helping the others find and destroy the antimatter canon.”

“Wait, what’s an antimatter canon?” Kate asks, struggling to keep up with people she’s becoming painfully aware are way smarter than her and share a convoluted history of which she’s only beginning to scratch the surface.

“According to the Book of Destiny, it generates antimatter,” Barry informs them. “The Anti-Monitor built it—it’s how he destroyed Earth 2. That was his test run. Before we were forced off the Waverider, Brainy triangulated the anti-matter wave particles. The source of the wave is hidden in a subterranean region of Earth 1.”

“How will they find it?” Kate questions. 

“We, the heroes of Earth 1,” he clarifies, “met Pariah before—well, before he became whatever the Anti-Monitor made him. His name was Nash Wells and he was a geologist and myth buster. He pursued Mar Novu across the multiverse because he thought The Monitor’s tales of the impending crisis were false and intended to spread fear. Nash wanted to stop what he called The Monitor’s reign of terror. He found the hidden gateway to The Monitor’s realm. But instead of defeating Mar Novu, the Anti-Monitor played him and Nash unintentionally freed him and was cursed to become Pariah, forced to witness the crisis. The point is, we believe the source of the wave is hidden in the gateway. We’ll just have to trust the others to figure it out,” Barry concludes.

“But we have an idea on how to defeat the Anti-Monitor,” Lena announces for the first time.

“Wait,” Kate interrupts. “The antimatter wave that attacked the Waverider—wouldn’t it have swallowed Earth 1 too?”

“No,” Brainy answers. “When we dissipated the first wave—the cannon would’ve basically rebooted. It’ll need time to recharge in order to generate another wave strong enough to cross the multiverse. The ‘wave’ that hit the ship, was more of a—missile. I suspect it was generated by the Anti-Monitor’s inherent power to wield antimatter. When Lena and I calibrated our quantum flux anti-matter gun to take out the army of ghost ghouls on Earth 38, we found they were— _animated_ —for lack of a better term, by antimatter. Therefore, there’s a high probability the Anti-Monitor has an inherent ability to manipulate limited amounts of antimatter at will.”

“Which brings us to our first priority right now,” Lena picks up. “I have an idea on how to defeat the Anti-Monitor decisively. He’s comprised of antimatter, and, like its opposite, antimatter can neither be created nor destroyed. It can only change form and move from place to place. _But_ –we _can_ set off a chain reaction to destabilize his form, compressing his molecules so he’s essentially shrinking for eternity.

“Is that kind of reaction even possible?” Sara asks incredulously.

“Of course, it is,” Brainy retorts quickly. “He would be stuck in an infinite loop for all eternity.”

“Okay, so while the geek squad works on developing the device the rest of us will set up temporary living and training quarters,” Kara declares decisively.

“How long will it take to build?” Kate asks naively, while everyone else tries to hide their varying degrees of mirth.

J’onn smiles good-naturedly and acts as spokesperson for the group. “I’ve learned the two most powerful warriors are patience and time. Let’s let them fight _for_ us this time.”

* * *

Kara watches as Lena, Brainy, and Cisco hover over a table littered with components, some of which she recognizes and others she’s never seen before. Everyone’s been working for weeks and although it’s been a struggle to remain patient and hopeful, knowing they have a feasible plan to defeat the Anti-Monitor keeps them motivated. Oliver has been relentless in his training regimen with Kara and the others, while Lena has worked day and night with Brainy and Cisco on the containment device. 

The formula for setting off the chain reaction was quickly agreed upon by the scientists. The challenge lied in developing an undegradable alloy to contain it indefinitely. They couldn’t risk setting the Anti-Monitor loose in the multiverse ever again. Lena confided to Kara the prototype would be ready within the next couple of days. 

But impatience hums underneath Kara’s skin, more so now that she knows they’re so close to the final battle. She longs for some semblance of normalcy where she can love Lena—lose herself in the throes of the barely suppressed hunger that stalks her every waking moment. They’d made a decision to wait to indulge their passion until they returned home—not that it was much of a choice. Although they’d done their best to fashion comfortable quarters, there’s hardly any privacy with ten people constantly roaming the space still habitable in the fortress.

“I found a store of depleted promethium, along with sufficient quantities of titanium and vanadium with which to form the alloy for the reinforced core to contain the reaction,” Brainy reveals in his usual excited yet understated manner, pulling Kara out of her thoughts.

“Excellent,” Lena replies as she looks over her shoulder. “We’re going to need your heat vision soon Supergirl,” Lena informs her with a quirk of her lips.

“I’m at your service madam,” Kara intones playfully with a bow and a sweep of her cape.

Lena laughs softly as she shakes her head. “Please let Barry know we’ll need him as well. Once you’ve forged the alloy, we’ll need to work quickly to assemble the components before sealing the final assembly.”

Kara’s back with Barry before Lena takes her next breath. She looks at the ever-competitive duo with an indulgent smirk. It’d taken some getting used to being surrounded by people embodying the very definition of fleet of foot, but the Paragon of Truth doesn’t have nearly the propensity for speed as these two. “I beat her, right Lena?” Barry asks while Kara’s cape still flutters from their rushed arrival.

“Nope,” Kara contradicts, confident Lena will back her up.

“You two are insane if you think I can differentiate Planck time with the naked eye,” the young genius huffs affably, while Kara feigns a look of betrayal. “Lena!” she laments as she clutches at her heart playfully.

Lena rolls her eyes indulgently while gesturing for Barry to join her in front of the monitor displaying the schematics for what they’ve taken to euphemistically calling the shrink bomb. “Study these and let me know if you have any questions, no matter how insignificant it may seem. We need it assembled _precisely_ as indicated in the diagrams,” she emphasizes. She knows they’re all cognizant the fate of the multiverse depends on it, but that’s exactly why it bears repeating.

Barry takes his time, which translates to minutes instead of seconds, before looking up at Lena and nodding resolutely. “Got it.”

Lena looks to Kara. “Ready?”

Kara smiles tightly. “Yes.”

“Do it,” Lena says as Cisco and Brainy standby silently. In the blink of an eye Barry has the components assembled and Kara’s forged the alloy and sealed the containment device.

* * *

They gather in their makeshift command center for what they all fervently hope will be the last time. Over the weeks, they’d all gravitated towards Kara as their natural, albeit unassuming, leader and they turn to her now. She stands before them grim faced, but confident in her trademarked pose. 

“In a few moments, Cisco will vibe us to the dawn of time where we expect the Anti-Monitor will be waiting to try and finish what he started and finalize his destruction of worlds,” she intones gravely. “Make no mistake. He is the apocalypse itself given life and form and terrible purpose. We will be fighting annihilation. But I have hope we will prevail. Because there is no other option,” she avows resolutely as she looks at each of them in turn, imbuing them all with the strength of her conviction in their ultimate victory. 

“Oliver and I will take point in distracting him. Lena, Brainy, and Cisco will bide their time until an opportunity to hit him with the shrink bomb presents itself. I imagine he’ll have another army of ghost ghouls with him. The rest of you will focus on holding them off, while protecting the geek squad,” she adds as she allows herself a small grin.

“Listen to each other and stay close together—just like we trained,” Oliver adds. “We can’t allow ourselves to be isolated or they’ll pick us off one by one,” he reminds them unnecessarily. He gives them a moment, then steps to Cisco’s side.

Since Cisco can only vibe them one at a time, they’d agreed beforehand Oliver would go first, followed by Kara, Barry, J’onn, Kal-El, Sara, Kate, Brainy, and finally Lena with the device. There’d been much grumbling at the order, but ultimately, they’d deferred to Oliver and Kara, who’d chosen to place their most seasoned and strongest fighters at the top of the order. Lena specifically argued against being last, but Kara would not be swayed, reminding Lena they’d be separated by seconds, no longer.

As Cisco leaves with Oliver, Lena grips Kara’s hand with all the strength supplied by her suit. “I love you Kara Zor-El,” she says simply for the first time. Although she’s called Kara my love before, it was a term of endearment she’d used occasionally throughout their friendship. But this was the first time she’d made such an open and unambiguous declaration. She’d vacillated on saying it for weeks, not wanting it to seem the gravity of their circumstances drove her to it. But suddenly it seemed important. To say it. At least once. Just in case.

In the words Kara also hears everything they’ve already said. Don’t die. I believe in you. If you die without me, I’ll invent a time machine and bring you back so I can kill you myself. That’d been Kara’s favorite of Lena’s declarations over the last few weeks. 

“I know,” Kara replies as Cisco reappears. She holds Lena gaze even as she starts to step through the breach.

* * *

Kara steps through to a desolate landscape where everything’s cast in muted shades of grey-green and the wind roars as it whips across the harsh terrain. “Where are we?” She shouts as Oliver approaches.

“The dawn of time—of the antimatter universe. He was already here when I arrived,” Oliver says as the Anti-Monitor studies them and the other heroes join them one by one. Just as Lena appears with Cisco, the Anti-Monitor begins to speak as his ghoulish minions begin to burst from the dirt at their feet.

“Welcome to my destiny,” he bellows from atop a rock formation as his army falls in around them.

Kara takes point as they form a semi-circle with Lena and Brainy ensconced behind them. “Let’s do this!” Kara’s rallying cry cuts through the howling gusts as she makes a beeline towards the Anti-Monitor. 

She takes to the air, immediately joined by Superman as they use their heat vision to take potshots at the fiend trying to extinguish their existence, hoping to throw him off-balance as the other heroes fend off the wraiths and Oliver attacks from the ground.

“It is too late. After 10,000 years, I shall be victorious,” gloats the devil incarnate. 

“No, you won't be,” Oliver responds assuredly as he approaches.

“Such confidence. You believe you’re prepared for this fight,” the Anti-Monitor taunts.

“I believe my entire life prepared me for this fight,” Oliver responds calmly as he assesses the ongoing battle in his peripheral vision.

“All life ends. Only death is eternal. Only I am eternal,” the Anti-Monitor asserts as he finally jumps into the fray in earnest.

“We'll see about that,” Oliver whispers to himself as he gives chase.

Lena circles the main fighting obliquely as she fends off the army of undead with the modified quantum flux anti-matter gun she and Brainy added to her suit of armor with an assist from the Atom. She’s relieved they’d thought of it back on the Waverider before things got crazy—otherwise she’d be screwed. She can hold her own one to one, but she’s not a trained fighter like the others.

Brainy and Cisco flank her and together they form a spear steadily eating up the ground between them and their target. Kara keeps an eye on them from the sky as she continues to make a pest of herself—the multiverse’s most annoying, and powerful, gadfly.

She notes when Oliver lunges and manages to snag the Anti-Monitor in a powerful grip and drops down next to Lena. As if she could read her mind, Lena activates the bomb and hands it to Kara before the hero says a word. “Throw it like a girl,” she snarks.

“Always,” Kara replies with a gleeful smirk as she hurls a fast ball straight towards the Anti-Monitor’s chest.

Oblivious to the others, the Anti-Monitor taunts Oliver. “I am destiny incarnate, inexorable and inescapable. You are nothing. Insects fated to be crushed beneath my heel without a moment's thought. Fighting is useless. Surrender.”

“I will not fail the multiverse,” Oliver retorts. “Not today. Not ever,” he grunts.

“Oliver duck!” Kara’s shout reaches him and he releases his hold and drops to the ground without hesitation. The bomb strikes true and the Anti-Monitor instantly starts to shrink, gone in a nanosecond with barely a whimper as the waifs disappear simultaneously in puffs of dust and eerie silence replaces the furiously wailing gale.

“We did it!” Barry’s the first to yell in triumph with a wide grin as he rushes Oliver and hugs him tightly with a manly slap on the back. Kara wraps her arm around Lena’s shoulder as she sighs in exhausted relief.

They look at Cisco with a shared thought. “Take us home.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." – Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace.
> 
> I have yet to watch any episode of the shows post crisis and from the little I’ve read up on, I might not until the seasons are over and the CW writers have either alienated me once and for all or thrown me enough of a bone to at least keep up with the two shows I watch.


	6. Normal's Reboot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The heroes return to Earth 38 and reunite with those left behind, including a smug and all-too-knowing Cat Grant, much to Lena's displeasure. Alex, of course, isn't above using the media mogul's presence to rile the youngest Luthor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this next installment out. I've been suffering from a severe gout outbreak, which literally knocked me off my feet. Unfortunately my old gamer laptop was too heavy for practical use so I was unable to do any writing. However, I just received my new HP Envy laptop, so I'm back in the game even if not quite back on my feet.
> 
> Also, there will be one more installment, which is mostly written and will post by Monday.
> 
> Thanks to all of you for reading and for your comments!

Kara takes a deep breath as the breach closes behind her and Lena. She grips Lena’s hand tightly as she reaches out with her senses— 

She’d had Cisco vibe them to the balcony on Lena’s penthouse, knowing she needed a minute before seeing anyone else—a brief respite before she tells her friends and family what she intends to do. She hears sirens in the distance, but nothing that requires her attention. It seems a pre-crisis normal rules the night, although she’s not sure she remembers what it feels like anymore. The months in isolation at the vanishing point and the intensity of the crisis still infect her reality like a lingering cough after a prolonged illness.

“Hey,” Lena calls softly. Kara turns her head and studies her lover thoughtfully. It’s their first moment alone since their first, and only, night together. Privacy was a commodity sacrificed to the crisis and a vague worry begins to form in the back of Kara’s mind. Will she and Lena be able to make a relationship work outside the extreme conditions created by the crisis?

“I can practically see your brain cells overclocking,” Lena says with a smile.

Kara sighs deeply. “Sorry. I think I’m suffering from whiplash. After everything, it seems a bit unreal that it’s actually over—that everyone’s safe.”

“—and you’re worried about what comes next for us,” Lena adds astutely.

Kara starts to deflect automatically but stops herself. For their relationship to work—to avoid the pitfalls their friendship fell into, then absolute honesty is a must. “Yes. I mean, I practically forced myself on you and I wouldn’t blame you if you changed your mind when you have time to think without impending doom on the horizon,” Kara acknowledges.

“Stop,” Lena interjects with a gentle finger to Kara’s lips. “It might’ve taken us longer to reach this point absent the crisis,” Lena admits with a rueful smirk, “but you and I were always going to end up together. We have a lot to work through and it’ll be a while before we figure everything out, but together we can surmount any obstacle thrown in our way. I love you Kara. I have for a long time. I’m not throwing away our chance at happiness, regardless how we got here.”

Lena can see the doubt still lingering in Kara’s eyes, but she knows only time will convince the hero Lena’s in it for the long haul. She tilts her head up pressing her lips to Kara’s, a light brush intended to reassure, and still the light touch sends shivers racing along Kara’s spine.

“I,” Lena continues, but Kara pulls her closer and Lena can feel her body trembling slightly and whatever else she intended to say is lost against soft lips. The kiss is gentle, soft, but it’s not gentle Lena decides she wants—not now, after all the lost time, and she knots her fist into Kara’s suit, pulling the willing hero harder against her. She groans softly, low in her throat, and then her arms encircle Kara, gathering her against her, tangling their limbs, only superpowers preventing them from tumbling to the hard floor.

The piercing ring of Kara’s phone provides a most unwelcome interruption and they reluctantly pull apart, both breathing heavily. The call finally goes to voicemail, but immediately begins to ring again. Kara touches her forehead to Lena’s in silent apology as she calms her racing heart. “That’s Alex,” she states unnecessarily. Even if Lena didn’t already know the Sister Sledge anthem was Alex’s ringtone, only Alex would be so insistent.

“We might as well get to the DEO,” Lena says in response. “Alex won’t rest until she sees you’re okay for herself and we need to debrief everyone. Oliver and Barry said they’d join us as soon as they checked in with their people.”

“Lena, I’m going to—” But Lena cuts her off before she finishes.

“I know. Oliver said he’d bring the Book of Destiny with them. But you’re not doing it alone Kara. Oliver, Barry, and Kate will be there with us. I’m not sure if we’ll be of any help, but if you insist on trying to bring back Earth 2, we’ll all be right there with you.”

“Good. You’ll probably need to stop Alex from killing me,” Kara only partly jokes as she gathers Lena into her arms for the flight.

* * *

Landing at the DEO proves anticlimactic in its normalcy. While busy, the sense of urgency and barely suppressed dread that’d pervaded the agents for weeks was absent. Kara would be relieved if it weren’t so surreal. Alex spots them immediately, uncannily attuned to Kara’s presence no matter what else may be happening.

“Kara!” she exclaims as she strides towards them, leaving J’onn hanging mid-sentence. She sweeps Kara into a tight hug without preamble, ignoring Lena for the moment. 

Lena’s relieved to see the paragon of honor, not to mention Brainy, hoping they’d paved the way by explaining everything that occurred in Alex’s absence. Although part of Lena understands Alex’s _not completely unwarranted_ suspicion, having to constantly defend and explain herself still grates on her nerves, especially since Lena blames Alex for Kara keeping her secret for so long. Sure, Kara should’ve had more faith in Lena, but Lena has no doubt her older sister’s mistrust tipped the scales against bringing Lena into the fold. Still, she’ll continue to bite her tongue whenever necessary, knowing a relationship with Kara means accepting Alex.

Alex finally releases her sister and glances at Lena. “Lena,” she greets, her tone subdued. Lena acknowledges the greeting with a nod without comment and is spared further interaction by the arrival of the other heroes.

Barry pulls Kara into a heartfelt hug, while Kate and Oliver smile indulgently. Oliver spots Lena and walks over. “That’s some device you built,” he says without preface, admiration obvious in his tone.

“It was a team effort. I couldn’t have done it without Brainy and Cisco, not to mention Barry’s speed,” Lena replies modestly, never comfortable with unvarnished praise. Praise in the Luthor household always came in the form of backhanded compliments, always letting her know she still could’ve done better and, almost always, with the unspoken implication Lex certainly _would_ have. 

“And they couldn’t have done it without you,” Oliver retorts. “You know, I was skeptical when Kara brought you onboard. I know a little bit about your brother and what he put your earth’s Superman through and I’m always slow to trust anyway, but she was right about you.”

“Thank you, Oliver,” Lena replies, her discomfort with the praise apparent, even to Oliver’s sometimes oblivious nature. She’s saved from the impromptu heart to heart by Kara’s presence at her side. “Hey guys, we’re meeting in the conference room,” she explains as she ushers them to the elevator with a gentle hand at the small of Lena’s back.

Upon entering the conference room, Lena spots the other paragons along with Superman and Susan, and to her unwelcome surprise, Cat Grant. The media mogul wastes no time approaching Kara, a sly grin gracing her elegant features. “I knew you’d finally owned your power when I saw you last, but who knew you’d developed a gift for understatement,” she quips. “I’d call the potential end of all existence a little more than an ‘interstellar crisis in the making’—and you owe me an interview.”

Kara’s smile eclipses the room as she sweeps Cat into a hug, which Cat returns enthusiastically. “You know me,” Kara responds as they pull apart, “I always bury the lede.”

Cat catches Lena’s poorly repressed glare over Kara’s shoulder and quickly jumps to the right conclusion but realizes it’s not the time for questions. “Hmm…I thought Snapper would’ve berated that bad habit out of you before he left. I’ll have to subject you to my remedial course on keeping the lede front and center.”

Alex, who’s been paying close attention, also jumps to a conclusion of her own, but unlike Cat, fails to exercise any restraint. “She knows?!” she blurts out without explanation. Kara takes a breath and silently prays to Rao for patience, but before she can answer her sister, Cat does it for her.

“I’ve known since I saw the grainy news footage of Kara standing soaking wet on the wing of the plane, all attempts to deceive me notwithstanding,” she informs Alex sharply. “You’ll find, agent Scully, the truth allies me with Kara more effectively than your poorly executed attempts at subterfuge ever bound me to Supergirl. Besides, soon everyone will know,” she informs Alex, fueling her exponentially escalating fury.

“What do you mean by that?” Alex asks, her voice deceptively calm. “Because if that’s a threat, it’ll be the last one you ever make,” she promises.

Kara steps between the two of them before things escalate further. “It’s not a threat Alex and we’ll talk about it later. Right now, we need to debrief.”

Kara meets Lena’s eyes across the room but is disappointed to find further reproach instead of the expected solace. Kara rolls her eyes internally. She adores Cat, but her inherent ability to get under everyone’s skin with a few words is not her favorite aspect of Cat’s character and she’s sure it won’t be the last time she’ll have to deal with the fallout.

Twenty minutes later, they’re all basically up to speed, with the heroes dispatched to Earth 1 explaining how they found and destroyed the antimatter canon and Kara explaining how they defeated the Anti-Monitor at the dawn of time.

Oliver clears his throat and looks around the room to the Book of Destiny lying in front of him on the conference table, his eyes finally coming to rest on Kara. Alex looks from the book to Kara suspiciously, eyes narrowed in question.

“Right,” Kara says, stalling as she formulates an explanation for what she intends to do. One by one everyone turns their attention to her. The paragons all know what she intends, even if she’d never informed them of her decision. It’s obvious enough by the mere presence of the book. Kate still has misgivings, but after everything they’d been through, Kara’s earned her trust and she knows Kara won’t rest until she’s done everything in her power to bring back Earth 2.

Lena reaches over from her spot next to Kara and takes her hand, giving it a gentle squeeze in support. She may not be thrilled with Kara’s evolving relationship with Cat Grant, but she won’t let petty jealousy prevent her from being a supportive partner.

“Some of you already know or figured out why I asked Oliver to bring the Book of Destiny. But for those who don’t, I’ll explain. The book is a metaphysical tome that allows a worthy individual the power to alter reality. I intend to use it to bring back Earth 2,” she says simply and exhales, waiting for the expected onslaught. Predictably, Alex speaks up first.

“What aren’t you saying?”

“It’s dangerous,” Kate interjects matter-of-factly. “Using it may drive her crazy. It’s one thing to use it to alter one aspect of reality, like a person’s identity or a place. It’ll require another level of power entirely to restore a planet.”

“Kara, what makes you think you can use the book this time? Its power proved too much for you on Earth 1 last year,” her cousin reminds her.

Lena bristles at Superman’s arrogance, his words serving only to belittle his cousin, even if it’s not his intention. Alex too shoots him a look laced with contempt. Alex and Lena may not agree on much, but they’re united in their disdain for Clark at least.

“I’m the paragon of hope,” Kara shrugs. “Look, I know a lot more about my powers and how the book works now, and I don’t intend to change anything, simply bring back Earth 2, and its people, exactly as they were. I’m also not planning on going it alone,” Kara emphasizes. The ‘unlike you’ goes without saying. It’s been an ongoing point of contention between the cousins since Kara became Supergirl. Clark’s preference for working alone versus Supergirl’s absolute belief in their family’s motto.

“Besides, as I recall, that was another instance of you telling me I couldn’t do something, and yet Barry and I proved you wrong. I believe we _can_ do it—working together. I will not let another world die without trying to save it. So, if any of you,” she says as she meets each person’s eyes in turn, “can’t, or won’t, support me—there’s the door,” she says with a nod towards the exit. “Otherwise, I’ll need all of you focused on either your memories of Earth 2 or your hope we can bring it back.”

“Well, I’ve said it before—hope is stronger than fear,” Cat adds her two cents with typical aplomb. “You taught me that Supergirl—and you’ve proved it time and time again. So, whatever you need, I’m with you,” she announces while shooting a meaningful look at Superman.

After a brief pause to give anyone who wants to time to leave, Kara pulls the Book of Destiny in front of her. No one moves, so she opens the book after a brief glance at Lena and Cat.

Instantly a white wave of energy radiates from the book, engulfing the room and its occupants. Kara closes her eyes and focuses on her memories of Earth 2 and channels her considerable will to focus on bringing it back. She vaguely feels hands on her shoulders and knows without looking it’s Lena and Cat. A roaring wind howls although nothing moves except the swirling web of luminosity.

Kara feels a weight pressing down on her as she pushes back instinctively, sweat breaking out across her brow. She senses, rather than sees, everyone in the room shifting to surround her. There’s an essence, a positivity, manifesting in the liminal spaces. A certain clarity descends, an anticipation of something desired. She has absolute faith she can bring back Earth 2. She will not let another world disappear into the void of existence. A minute passes, then two, then she loses all sense of time. One moment she’s engulfed in the eddying morass of hope made manifest and the next the book slams shut, and she collapses.

* * *

Kara wakes groggily to the familiar glare of the sunlamps. She feels a hand in hers and opens her eyes slowly to find Lena’s relieved smile. “You did it. You brought them all back,” Lena doesn’t waste any time in informing her.

“How long have I been out?” Kara asks, mainly so she’ll be prepared for Alex’s level of fury.

“Four days, three hours, and twelve minutes,” she hears her sister’s quiet response. She turns to her other side and finds Alex leaning against the wall. But instead of the expected anger, she finds a quiet resignation, perhaps a bit of sadness on her sister’s familiar features.

“I’ll let everyone else know you’re awake,” Lena offers, placing a small kiss on Kara’s palm before giving the siblings privacy.

“Alex—”

“You did it,” Alex says with tender smile. “You brought back a planet Kara—I’m so very proud of you.”

“We did it. All of us,” Kara reminds her. “Together.”

Alex sighs tiredly and Kara takes note of the obvious exhaustion—the dark circles under Alex’s eyes, the wrinkled fatigues and unkempt hair, no doubt from Alex running her fingers through it in frustration. “I’m sorry I keep putting you through this—” Kara apologizes vaguely, knowing how much it drains Alex every time she’s hurt and knowing too she can’t promise it won’t happen again—that most probably it will keep happening on a regular basis.

“You’re a hero, Kara. You don’t need to apologize for being exactly what this world needs you to be.”

“Then why do I feel I’ve let you down somehow?” Kara asks in a voice reminiscent of the small girl who came to earth, ripped from her home, lost and confused.

“No, Kara—on the contrary. You continuously amaze me. I always knew you were a hero, but you’ve surpassed all my expectations. In fact—you don’t even need me anymore,” Alex finishes in a whisper so low a human wouldn’t have heard it.

“Alex, that’s not true. I will always need you,” Kara responds earnestly.

“You have—other people now,” Alex says hesitantly. 

“Yes. But you will always be my sister and I will always love and need you. I know you don’t agree with my decision to trust Lena and Cat, but they’re not your replacements Alex. It’s just time for me to step up and own my destiny—to be the last scion of the House of El. I need to trust in myself now. I can’t be content to just put out fires anymore. There’s so much I can do—so many ways I can help everyone on earth. I’m not like Kal-El and I don’t want to live in his shadow anymore, picking up the pieces after the carnage. I need to do more—be more. Lena and Cat, and others, will help me fulfill my destiny. But I need your support too.”

“You have it Kara—you will always have it. But you’re wrong. You don’t need me,” Alex insists stubbornly.

“Maybe you’re right Alex. Maybe I don’t need _you_ specifically. But I need people—I need help. I can’t do it on my own and I _choose_ you.”

Before Alex can respond, the door to the med bay opens and an annoyed looking Lena enters followed by Cat. “If you’re done napping, the world needs to hear from Supergirl,” Cat snarks. But Kara can tell by the bags under Cat’s eyes, she’s been worried.

“Ms. Grant—” Kara begins but Cat cuts her off. “We’re way passed keeping things professional Kara—you know I hate repeating myself. Call me Cat. It’s not a privilege granted to many, so don’t make me regret it.”

“Well since you’re finally honoring me with my name, I guess I can return the courtesy,” Kara replies with a grin. “I need to touch base with the president and grab a shower, but I can meet you at CatCo in a couple of hours,” Kara offers.

Cat recognizes its not really a request and can’t help but admire the new air of authority her former protégé now wears like a mantle. She’s going to enjoy getting to know and working closely with this adult version of her star pupil.

“Of course. I’m sure there’s a buffet somewhere calling your name as well. I’ll see you later,” she says with a wave of her hand as she turns and walks out.

Alex snorts and Lena rolls her eyes. “She’s been a nuisance,” Alex informs her. “Who knew your former slave-driving narcissistic boss had a heart?”

“I did,” Kara replies bluntly, her tone laced with reproach.

“Yeah well, she’s been here every day and I’ve lost track of how many times she’s called me asking for an update,” Alex complains.

“Cat has a big heart. She just hides it behind an indifferent façade,” Kara defends her boss.

“That’s not all she’s hiding,” Alex quips and the small smile on her face turns into a wicked grin as Lena frowns.

* * *

Kara lands on the CatCo balcony just as dusk falls and finds the media mogul in her office, an intent look on her face as her fingers battle with the keyboard on her desk. Whatever she’s editing clearly pissed her off. Although Kara’s not surprised considering the depths CatCo plunged to under Andrea’s leadership.

“Woah,” Kara exclaims. “Whatever the keyboard did, I’m sure it deserves it.”

“You can cross stand-up off your list, should you get tired of being a superhero,” Cat snaps without missing a keystroke.

A minute later she saves her document and looks up. “You’re looking surprisingly energized, considering—everything,” Cat comments as she stands and joins Kara on the couch where she settled as she waited.

“The benefits of a Kryptonian constitution,” Kara replies with a smile. “So how many people did you threaten to fire since you’ve been back,” she asks as she looks at the bustling bullpen, surprisingly full of people even though it’s pushing seven.

“All of them,” Cat says without a hint of apology. “I’m not sure what’s worse. Those, like your friend Mr. Olsen, who fled at the first sign of trouble, or those who stayed and took to tabloid journalism faster than Martha sold her ImClone stock.”

Kara snorts a laugh. “Well some of us tried to strike a balance between a principled stand and the unemployment line, but it wasn’t easy,” Kara says in defense of her colleagues.

“Which is why they’re still employed,” Cat remarks with a glance at the people still hard at work, before focusing back on Kara.

“I read the article—are you still sure you want to go through with it?” Cat asks, concerned eyes studying Kara closely.

“Yes. It’s time,” Kara replies without hesitation.

“What about Clark?” Cat asks knowingly.

“He’s adamantly opposed, and I understand his concerns about the potential exposure of his identity, but only a handful of people can link Kara Danvers to Clark Kent, so the risk is limited. Besides, I need to take control of my own life. It’s time his choices stopped defining me.”

“I just want you to be sure Kara. It’s not a genie we can put back in the bottle when things get tough and _they will_ ,” Cat emphasizes.

“Do you think I’m making a mistake?” Kara asks, surprised. After all, she would’ve bet the media mogul would be salivating at publishing arguably the biggest scoop in CatCo’s history.

“I just want to make sure you’ve thought this through, Kara—that you’re prepared. For example, what about security? Once you reveal your identity, it won’t be long before they find your home. You’ll lose all privacy. Take it from someone who knows, the minute you’re in the public eye, your life will never be your own again.”

“I think so. In fact, that’s something I wanted to talk with you about. There’s a millennium of Kryptonian technology stored at Kal’s Fortress, which I intend to start evaluating for potential uses on earth. I already have Kelex, Superman’s robotic attendant, manufacturing other attendants with defensive capabilities, including transmat evacuation. I want you to have one here and one at home.”

“I can take care of myself,” Cat immediately defends.

Kara stares at her intently with a knowing look before replying, giving Cat time to think about the times she’s needed Supergirl’s rescue.

“I know that’s true usually,” Kara finally says diplomatically. “But it’s not just about you. Think about Carter. You’re very publicly linked to Supergirl and that connection will take on new meaning once my identity’s public. I also plan to upgrade security here at CatCo and at your homes. Please Cat, let me do this for you and Carter. I need to know I’ve done everything in my power to keep the people I care about safe. Besides,” she adds with a grin, “you’ll never have to drink lukewarm coffee again.”

“Fine—for Carter,” Cat concedes. “You know, you’re going to have to move too—that rent-controlled refuge of yours isn’t equipped to keep out the slew of paparazzi you’ll soon be attracting. It’s a little-known fact, but I own my building. The other penthouse on my floor is empty—I’ve never been able to stomach the idea of letting anyone live so close when it wasn’t necessary, but I’m used to you,” Cat says, feigning grudging acceptance to hide hopeful anticipation. “You’re welcome to it.”

“That’s too generous, Cat—”

Cat waves her off before she completes her thought. “If you’re going to be licensing Kryptonian technology, I’m sure we can work something out eventually. It’s the least I can do.”

“Thank you, Cat. I promise I’ll think about it,” Kara agrees graciously.

“So, you and Lena Luthor,” Cat brings up casually.

The soft smile on the hero’s face speaks more eloquently than anything Kara could say, and Cat feels her heart break just a little at possibilities ignored and a future foreclosed. 

“It’s new,” Kara finally says, “and we have a lot to work out, but I love her Cat. She’s amazing—insanely smart and driven and kind,” she gushes.

Cat smiles genuinely at Kara’s joy. She can admit, if only to herself, she’d hoped to explore her relationship with Kara further once she’d agreed to return to National City, but the sting of constructive rejection, one Kara doesn’t even know she’s dishing out, doesn’t diminish her happiness for her friend. Kara deserves all the happiness in the world and if the youngest Luthor provides it, then so be it.

“That brings me to the next matter I wanted to discuss,” Kara says. “Lena and I plan to create a privately held corporation to develop and eventually license Kryptonian technology. It will also have a media arm to handle marketing and potentially any Supergirl licensing. Lena thinks licensing my image will give me more control over how its used and I can use the proceeds to fund other projects to help aliens integrate into human society. I’d like you to participate in the venture as one-third owner.”

Cat’s not easily shocked, but the level of trust implicit in Kara’s request leaves her speechless for a moment.

“Kara—I’m not sure what to say,” she finally admits.

“I know it’s a big ask, but I trust you Cat. Besides, with three of us at the helm, you and Lena can always block me if I’m going off the deep end. Take all the time you need to think about it—”

“Yes,” Cat says decisively.

“Yes?” Kara asks excitedly.

“Yes,” Cat nods. Not only will the venture undoubtedly prove lucrative, it’s exactly the type of challenge she’d been seeking when she left. She’d thought diving into the political waters of Washington would scratch the itch she’d felt, but everything that happened with Marsden poisoned the well for her. But helping Kara build a better world—helping in tangible, relatively immediate ways, called to her in a visceral way.

“Excellent! I’ll coordinate with your assistant—wait, do you have an assistant?”

“No—as I recall you promised to find me one when you cajoled me into retaking the helm of my empire,” Cat reminds teasingly.

“I’ll get right on that, I promise. In the interim, I’m sure Nia won’t mind pinch hitting. At least I know she won’t scare off easily,” Kara says with a smile.

“You know how I detest sports metaphors,” Cat says with a grimace. “But she’ll suffice—not as prescient as you, as least when it comes to me, but we worked together well in DC.”

Kara laughs—no doubt Cat knows about Nia’s powers.

“After your article runs tomorrow, I’ll announce your new status as a contributing columnist.”

“You’re sure it’s a good idea? I’m sure there’ll be some blow-back once I reveal my identity,” Kara worries.

“I can handle it,” Cat says confidently. “Let me worry about it.” 

Kara gets a far away look in her eyes as she tilts her head towards the open balcony.

“Go,” Cat says. She’d learned to identify that particular look in her assistant a long time ago.

“We’ll touch base tomorrow,” Kara promises as she hurries towards the balcony. As she flies off, she realizes how freeing it is to not worry about inventing excuses for her abrupt departure and thinks, _just_ _maybe_ , things are finally starting to come together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Overclocking (present participle) means to run the processor of one's computer at a speed higher than that intended by the manufacturers.
> 
> In journalism, the lede refers to the introductory section of a news story that is intended to entice the reader to read the full story. It appears most frequently in the idiom 'bury the lede'. Lede is a noun with an interesting history. It originated in newsrooms sometime between 1950 and 1970, where it was used as slang for the first sentence of a story. The Oxford English Dictionary put it in the 1950s, while Merriam Webster puts it around 1970.
> 
> The word liminal comes from the Latin word ‘limen’, meaning threshold – any point or place of entering or beginning. A liminal space is the time between the ‘what was’ and the ‘next.’ It is a place of transition, a season of waiting, and not knowing. According to theologian Richard Rohr, a liminal space is where all transformation takes place, if we learn to wait and let it form us.


	7. Stronger Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not 100% happy with ending the story here, but otherwise it would grow beyond the story of the crisis I originally intended. Besides, I really do want to get back to my other series. I'm not watching the show and may never return to it unless the CW writers get their heads out of their asses, which seems unlikely. So I'll continue to write my own blissful universe for our favorite duo.
> 
> Thanks again for your patience, comments, and encouragement. I appreciate it!

Stronger Together

By Kara Danvers

My name is Kara Danvers. Many of you have been reading my articles in CatCo and The Tribune for some time. Earlier this year I was awarded a Pulitzer for my investigative piece on Lex Luthor. I was praised for my tenacity in digging for the truth. But when it comes to my personal truth, I’ve not been so courageous or so transparent.

In hiding my truth, I’ve hurt people I care about, both in my personal life, and more broadly, people who’ve been courageously on the front lines of alien/human relations, exposing their personal truths despite the very real and present danger of harm to themselves and the people they care about.

Yesterday, existence as we know it almost ended. But a group of heroes, alien and human, from across the multiverse, worked together to save us. Because of their willingness to set aside their differences and risk it all for the greater good, we have a future, and we owe it to them and to ourselves, to make it the best future possible.

In my life there is one person who has supported me personally and professionally from the moment we met. She’s been pivotal in my career as a reporter and my personal growth. Her name is Lena Luthor and without her, I literally would not be here today. She’s saved my life and challenged me to be the best version of myself. 

Many of you know her name, but what most don’t know is that Lena has played a pivotal role in the fight against the xenophobia running rampant in our country today. It is her willingness to do the right thing, no matter the personal cost, that led to the defeat of Cadmus and the rooting out of corruption at the highest levels of our government. Without her, our greatest enemy to date, the Anti-Monitor, would have succeeded in his aim to end not just our world, but all worlds across space and time. 

Cat Grant, my friend and mentor, taught me there’s no such thing as failure if you’re willing to stand up and face the music. She also reminded me I shouldn’t cling to a mistake just because I spent a long time making it.

So today, I stand with Lena and Cat, and all the brave individuals, human and alien, sharing their truths in the fight to make a better world.

My name is Kara Zor-El Danvers and I am Supergirl.

* * *

Lena puts down her copy of The Tribune and looks over at Kara, who’s been obsessing over her twitter feed. “Dare I ask?” Lena questions sardonically.

“Well, it’s definitely a mixed response. On the fringes I’ve gotten the expected, yet still disturbing, anti-alien vitriol as well as some rather explicit marriage proposals…still creepy,” Kara decides with a grimace. “But the majority of the comments have been supportive. The ancillary coverage orchestrated by Cat on the alien amnesty act and the Anti-Monitor attack is helping guide the conversation. It seems the good will I banked as Supergirl recently has helped sway public opinion. I feel bad for Cat though. It’s going to be an uphill battle for the foreseeable future.”

“She can handle it,” Lena says confidently.

“No doubt,” Kara agrees with a sigh. “I just wish my decision wasn’t causing such upheaval for everyone close to me. Eliza’s taking a leave of absence from the lab in Midvale—they’re a small non-profit and not really set-up to deal with the resulting publicity. She’s coming to National City to stay with Alex and work with the DEO in the interim.”

“She was thinking about doing that anyway though wasn’t she?” Lena asks, remembering Alex mentioning Eliza’s desire to be closer to her daughters.

“True. She’s also gotten to be close friends with J’onn,” Kara mumbles and Lena hides her smile. They suspect Eliza and J’onn may be more than friends, but Kara’s squeamish about discussing it for some reason Lena hasn’t quite figured out yet.

“Alex says there was a gaggle of press waiting for her outside her building this morning, but the security there’s managed by the DEO so she’s not worried.”

“Hmm,” Lena replies noncommittally.

“I already have a polite voicemail from my landlord asking what I intend to do about the paparazzi harassing my neighbors.”

“Well, we knew you’d have to move,” Lena reminds her.

“Speaking of…Cat suggested I move into her building. They’re already used to handling the unique security concerns of high-profile residents and the other penthouse on her floor is available,” Kara mentions, oblivious to the scowl growing on Lena’s face as she continues to monitor her twitter feed.

However, the stark silence clues her in and she looks up to find Lena staring at her impassively.

“What’s wrong?” she asks as she reviews the last few minutes of conversation in her head.

Lena stares at her for another long minute, before deciding her girlfriend really is clueless and not intentionally toying with her emotions. “Kara, I know Cat is important to you, but I’m not comfortable with you moving in next door to her. She has feelings for you… _romantic_ feelings,” Lena stresses when it seems like Kara’s going to disagree. “I’ve already agreed to be business partners, but that’s the extent of my willingness to share,” Lena adds sharply.

“Hey,” Kara says as she puts down her phone and gives Lena her undivided attention, “you have no reason to be jealous. Cat knows exactly how I feel about you and in any case, although sometimes I get the sense her feelings may be more, she’s never acted on them or given me any reason to think she wants anything other than friendship from me.”

“What about if she does?”

“Lena—I’m not with you because Cat wasn’t interested,” Kara says, a little heat starting to creep into her voice. “I love you and I know how you feel about monogamy.”

“So, wait, you’re saying you want something with Cat?” Lena asks incredulously.

“No. I’m saying I’m in love with you and you are all I need. But I do love Cat and she’s very important to me. I know all people see is an arrogant narcissist, but there’s so much more to her. She’s an incredible mom with an infallible moral compass,” she pleads earnestly.

Lena looks far from convinced and frustration shows in Kara’s furrowed eyebrows. “You know, you’re not the only one I’ve hurt, keeping my secret. I hurt her deeply, but she forgave me without hesitation. Hell, I threw her off a building and instead of hating me, she helped me rehabilitate my image as Supergirl. She gave me the opportunity to chart my own path at CatCo even when she knew I was lying to her. She’s the only other person besides you to ever believe in Kara Danvers as much as Supergirl. Please Lena—don’t ask me to push her out of my life. As it is, I’m destined to watch everyone I love die. Don’t ask me to compound my losses by willingly pushing her away.”

“I’m not asking you to exclude her from your life. I’m telling you I don’t want you moving in next to her,” Lena growls.

“Okay. That’s reasonable. I’ll stay with Alex until I figure something out,” Kara concedes easily.

Lena exhales forcefully, not any happier with that option. The last thing she wants is Alex playing gatekeeper. “Did it ever occur to you I might want you here with me?” Lena finally asks.

“I hadn’t really thought about it,” Kara admits. “Plus, we’re just starting out and I know you guard your personal space zealously. I would never want to place that kind of pressure on you.”

“Kara, we’ve been dancing around each other for over three years. You’ve already proposed, I think living together would be a given.”

“Yes, of course—eventually. But I’ve already made too many mistakes when it comes to us. I don’t think we can afford any more,” Kara says softly, moving closer to Lena and taking her hand.

Lena looks at their clasped hands and then meets her girlfriend’s concerned eyes. “Come stay with me while we figure it out. It doesn’t have to be permanent, but I’ve gotten used to sleeping with you every night and waking up with you every morning. Besides, Cat’s not the only one with extensive real estate holdings. We have options,” Lena asserts, growing more confident by the minute it’s the right move. “Besides, how else are you going to keep a close eye on me?” Lena teases.

Kara grins, eyes crinkling with relief. “Well, when you put it that way…it makes perfect sense.”

“Good,” Lena grins wickedly and pulls Kara closer, “that’s cause for celebration,” she finishes breathily, as her kiss forecloses all further conversation.


End file.
